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THE 



CAMEL HUNT: 



NARRATIVE OF PERSONAL ADVENTURE. 



BY J. W. FABENS, 

AUTHOR OF "LIFE ON THE ISTHMUS 



'The Hyrcanian deserts, and the vasty wilds 
Of wide Arabia, are as thoroughfares now. 

* * * * 

The watery kingdom, whose ambitious head 
Spits in the face of heaven, is no bar 
To stop the foreign spirits. 1 ' 

Merchant of Yenioe. 



NEW EDITION, 



NEW-YORK: 

GEORGE P. PUTNAM & CO., 10 PARK PLACE. 
1853. 



,^ 3 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by 

JAMES MTJNROE AND COMPANY, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



Gtft from 
the Estate of Miss Roth Putnam 
Oct.6, 1 981 



PREFACE TO NEW EDITION. 



"Camels and California," says the critic — "two words that are not 
often used in one breath." True, and a good many others, which some- 
how have scraped acquaintance in our day, might range themselves in 
the same category. It is quite superfluous for me to inform the reader 
that this is a fast age — Young America has dinned that into his ears 
pretty effectually long since — rushing along with its unearthly steam- 
whistle, and its eternal warning of " look out for the engine while the 
bell rings ;" which takes it for granted that there are no illiterate or 
deaf people to be looked after — as somebody says. 

But, say you, the camel is not a fast animal, and we are going to do 
without animals. Look at the motive powers of the day—steam, ca- 
loric, combustion. All these, I reply, create yet further uses for the 
camel. If you doubt it, ask the jockies how horse flesh stands the in- 
troduction of the iron racer on the course ; and as for his being a fast 
animal, vide whatever you can find recorded upon the subject. " When 
you shall meet a herie (or running camel), and shall say unto his rider 
— Salem Alek — ere he shall have answered you — Alek Salem — he will 
be afar off and out of sight, for his fleetness is as the wind." 

Still doubting, you say the camel is an animal exclusively adapted 
to the East — he will not thrive in our land. I will reply with a quota- 
tion from history : " The horse, the ox, the sheep, the goat, and the pig, 
were all strangers to the new world, and were brought from Europe at 
an early period by the first settlers." Look at the innumerable herds 
of wild cattle that literally infest the pampas of Buenos Ayres and 
Brazil, and the scarcely less numerous troops of horses that lead so 
free and gallant a life on the broad savannahs of Texas and New Mexi- 
co. "Why shouldn't we have our extensive camel parks and our opu- 
lent caravans, adding a new and strikingly picturesque feature to the 
magnificent landscapes of our broad South- West ? 



IV PREFACE. 

Will the importation pay ? I might produce a host of opinions on 
this subject, the very names appended to which would do away with 
any skepticism on that point ; although, now that I come to reflect, I 
am not sure but that these minds looked rather at the greatness and 
glory of the enterprise, and the incalculable results which our adven- 
turous humanity was to derive therefrom, than to its aspect as a com- 
mercial speculation. Still, the natural deduction is that it will pay — 

most decidedly. 
- 

There is a portion of our country to which Indian traditions point 

as the richest in mineral resources of any on the globe. This country 
is impenetrable by the white man, in consequence of the deserts of 
sand which hem it in, and the savage Indian tribes which defend it. 
" Whence," asks the author of " Eagle Pass," speaking of the recent 
discovery of an old emerald mine in a rough and arid mountain district 
on the borders of the Red Sea — " whence came the pure and match- 
less emeralds that decked the brow of the Aztec Emperors? We 
have a dream that their lost hiding-place will yet be found not far 
from the Gila." With the assistance of the camel this country may be 
explored and made available. 

The succeeding pages will explain more fully the ideas which I 
have ventured to entertain upon the subject. The voyage therein 
described may have taken place, or it may belong to that dreary cata- 
logue of glorious things, " the things that might have been." At any 
rate, the work is not a mere jeu d' esprit There is a purpose in it, and 
the signs of the times indicate that that purpose will yet be fully ac- 
complished. 

In permitting this new edition to go forth, I must take occasion to 
express my thanks for the favor and kindness with which the former 
have been received, both by the general reader and the literary critic. 
A continuation of the narrative may be found embodied in " A Story 
of Life on the Isthmus," recently published in "Putnam's Popular 

Library." 

J. W. F. 
Salem, Mass., March 1, 1853. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter I. 


California . 


1 


II. 


" Our Noble Selves " . 


5 


III. 


Off .... 


16 


IV. 


Evening on Deck 


21 


V. 


A §TORM 


. 28 


VI. 


Forebodings 


38 


VII. 


Death 


. 48 


VIII. 


Mogadore 


57 


IX. 


Almost a Row 


. 64 


X. 


A Journey on Camels . 


76 


XI. 


Wed-Noon . 


. 90 


XII. 


Glorious Dick Vinal . 


107 


XIII. 


The Seaside *. 


. 125 


XIV. 


Isle of Sal 


136 


XV. 


Baron Martinez 


. 144 


XVI. 


The Ball 


157 


XVII. 


A Eain Squall 


. 173 


XVIII. 


Return to Mogadore . 


183 


XIX. 


Off again . 


. 190 


XX. 


Chagres 


196 


XXI. 


Landing of the Camels 


. 213 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 



CHAPTER I. 



CALIFORNIA. 



California, thou hast much to answer for. On 
thy youthful head hang responsibilities wide as the 
world, and whose results are only to be vaguely 
conjectured in the far depths of centuries to come. 
Thou art the last, and art destined to become the 
greatest of the empires, the best beloved, the Benja- 
min of nations. Thou art the fulfilment of the 
poor man's hope, the realization of the poet's dream, 
the end foreseen by the prophet when he described 
the westward tendency of empire's star. 

Yet, for long years, didst thou sleep almost as 
soundly as when old night brooded over the earth, 
and none foresaw the wealth and power and mag- 
nificence biding its time so profoundly quiet in thy 
breast. The solitary and unfrequent mariner as 
he guided his vessel cautiously along thy sandy 
shores, in his wildest misgivings and proudest hope 
1 



6 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

for a better time coming, never dreamed of any 
thing like this. It was reserved for the moment 
when thou wast fairly under fhe protection of the 
only people upon earth, who could have made thee 
what thou art, and what thou yet shall be, that the 
time which cometh once to all came to thee. 

Nevertheless, thou hast much to answer for. The 
parchment which ceded these broad acres was 
stained with blood. The history of that unpar- 
alelled immigration, which has filled thy hillsides 
and ravines and glistening rivers with all varieties 
of teeming life, is wet with the tears of women and 
tender children. Many an edifice, the altar to a 
fortune, miraculously acquired, has been reared 
simultaneously with the planting of a grave stone 
a thousand leagues away, on which was recorded 
the epitaph of a broken heart. Thou hast held up 
a glittering bait to the baser passions of mankind, 
and the lust for gold has gathered food and strength 
in thy dominions. Thou hast summoned men, with 
thy strange weird power to enforce obedience, away 
from the tenderest relations, the holiest ties, the best 
privileges of humanity, and well is it for thee if 
thou hast any thing to give in exchange for all this. 
This side of the picture is undescribed, for as yet 

" We but hear 
Of the survivors' toil in their new lands, 
Their numbers and success, but who can number 
The hearts which broke in silence of that parting, 
Or after their departure ; of that malady 
Which calls up green and native fields to view 
From the rough deep, with such identity 
To the poor exile's fevered eye, that he 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 6 

Can scarcely be restrained from treading them, 
That melody which, out of tones and tunes, 
Collects such pasture for the longing sorrow 
Of the sad mountaineer, when far away 
From his snow canopy of cliffs and clouds, 
That he feeds on the sweet but poisonous thought, 
And dies." 

But thou hast other things to answer for, the 
influence of which is already felt wherever thy 
name is heard. Thou hast breathed dignity and 
geniality into labor. The spectacle now held up to 
the world's gaze, on the banks pf the San Joaquin 
and the Sacramento, is well calculated to make the 
miserable aristocrat, proud of his ill-gotten hoard 
of hereditary riches, to tremble in his stronghold. 
That which was once the prey of the trickster and 
legal gambler now yields itself generously, aye, 
lovingly to the stout hands of patient toil. The 
noblest circle of eastern civilization is decimated, 
that that "far land beyond the west" may have 
other examples of physical industry, than it has 
been our privilege to enjoy. 

Thou hast afforded another shining illustration of 
the practical working of that eminently democratic 
motto, " The greatest good of the greatest number." 
Thou hast shown that common and equal interests 
and hopes, united with the sentiment of universal 
brotherhood, can do more than stringent laws and 
troops and prisons. 

Thou hast held out the promise of a more equal 
diffusion of the blessings of wealth, and a more 
substantial basis for the world's trade. Thou has 
given a new and unexpected importance to the 



4 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

entire shores of the Pacific, and even hinted a 
change in old familiar lines of commerce. 

Thou art the nurse of high adventure. From 
thy unrivalled position thou beckonest with one 
hand to the Indies, thanks to Fulton, no longer far, 
and with the other to the cities on the Atlantic 
shore. Not vainly, for already Cape Horn (asking 
pardon of Magellan) has seen the wings of ships, 
almost as thick as albatrosses sometimes nearly 
shut, but always steadily and unflinchingly striving 
towards the west. Would you have information of 
the Pacific movements, ask the oleaginous monsters 
of the deep. 

And not alone on the sea is thy thrilling influence 
felt and responded to, though the Levant and St. 
George's channel have their story as well as the 
bays and rivers of our own Atlantic coast. Many a 
quiet inland village has heard from afar the rush- 
ing of thy eagle wings, and its peaceful inaction has 
seemed thenceforth hateful. And in the depths of 
the silent wilderness, and on the lonely sweep of 
the immensity of western prairie, the bare mention 
of thy name has kindled in the breast of solitary 
wanderers a new fire, a beacon light, calling them 
to come on to deeds of nobler import. 

To establish a better and speedier passage to thy 
shores, was the object of " The Camel Hunt." 



CHAPTER II. 



" OUR NOBLE SELVES. 1 



OiNE bright cold night in the early part of the 
month of February, 1850, when the stars twinkled 
lustily in the sky, but could not, with all their 
ethereal beauty, call off the longing look of the 
wayfarer from lighted window panes, there could 
have been seen beneath the half drawn curtain of a 
certain dwelling house, towards the south end of 
the city of Boston, a scene singularly suggestive. 
The room thus brought into notice was evidently a 
library, with books, pictures, and curious specimens 
of natural history ranged along the walls. Its 
peculiar aspect at that moment was derived from 
the fact, that its floor was covered with trunks, 
baskets, valises, carpet-bags, and various other kinds 
of packages, strewed any where and every where in 
admirable confusion. This hinted at a sad phase of 
human life, the sundering of domestic ties, the 
division or dissolution of a household. While a 
sunny side-board, on which stood a dark mysterious 
looking bottle enveloped cosily with tiny glasses, 
seemed to say, that in spite of the presence of 
1* 



O THE CAMEL HUNT. 

awkward realities, an attempt at geniality was still 
to be made. 

There was but one person in the room at the 
commencement of the evening, a young man, and 
as that young man was myself, I shall not describe 
him more particularly. 

The street bell rang in obedience to a short 
earnest pull. A gentleman, whom I shall call by 
the fictitious name of Major Wallack, was an- 
nounced. 

"Well, Warrener," said he, grasping my hand, 
" this looks like it. Jove ! to think that we are fairly 
off at last! Do you know that I feel as if we were 
on the eve of a march, a triumphal march, and that 
at the end I can see our entrance into a walled city, 
and our passage through crowded streets, with fair 
faces at the windows of stately buildings, and deli- 
cate white hands hurling flowers upon us. This is 
nothing, though, to the glorious satifaction one feels 
in carrying out a cherished idea, in being of use to 
one's generation, in fulfilling a manly destiny." 

The high souled, the eagle eyed Major, I could 
have hugged him! There he stood upright and 
firm with his noble face glowing with a high strung 
enthusiasm, as fine a specimen of the race of beings, 
to whom God gave the earth as an inheritance, as 
ever went forth to subdue it and make it a blessed 
boon. The Major, with his long hair wandering 
wildly down upon his shoulders, his old Roman 
face, and his keen eagle eye, looking through the 
mists of difficulties and paltry annoyances which 
had long enveloped him to the great end. I loved 



THE CAMEL HUNT. t 

and respected him, then, for his stern simplicity and 
frugality, his indomitable perseverance, his great and 
generous soul, incapable of any thing low or mean 
in itself, or of suspecting its existence in others. 
But during our long subsequent intimacy, when we 
were as brothers, united by the bond of solitary 
adventure, endeared to each other from having been 
the object of common jibes and sneers, and having 
made for ourselves common enmities, I loved and 
respected him far more. For I had seen him during 
long days and the slow lingering watches of the 
night at sea, in storm and calm, and all the chang- 
ing vicissitudes of ocean life, in foreign lands, amid 
peril and trouble, with the blear ugly eyes of that 
hideous demon failure looking right into his soul, 
and afterwards in all the glad triumph of success; 
and I could not fail to observe always the same 
patriarchal virtues, the same child-like simplicity, 
the delicate respect for the rights and feelings of 
others, the intense admiration of every thing great, 
the heart-felt loathing of every thing paltry: the 
passionate resolve ever to protect the weak and 
resist the oppressor; the chivalric admiration of 
woman, the tender love of children, the unchanging, 
unchangeable faith in the everlasting good, which 
was the God of his unpedantic creed, the suspicion 
of which traits, even on our first interview, had 
made me determine to 

" Grapple him to my soul with hooks of steel." 

The street bell rang again, and the third member 
of our party, Tom Eddington, was announced. I 



8 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

never yet was successful in a personal description, 
and therefore shan't attempt it now. The reader 
will become fully acquainted with Tom as we 
progress. 

" What has had you, Tom?" inquired the Major; 
"if you had been here a few minutes before, you 
would have heard something to your advantage." 

" If any body knows any thing to my advan- 
tage," retorted Tom, "it's more than I do myself. 
Still, I have been blackguarded so much, that I 
should like to hear a good thing said of me once 
in a while, just for the novelty of it. 

"Don't make yourself uneasy, Tom," said I, "we 
were only joking, there is nobody here knows any 
thing particularly creditable about you." 

"I should like to catch them at it, that's all," 
said Tom, clenching his fists. "But trifling aside — 
you know that I despise it — my young friends, a 
glass of wine, here's to the hunters of the camel." 

"Our noble selves," parenthesized the Major. 

Which being drank, we drew our chairs nearer to 
the table, lighted our cigars, and sat down talking 
cheerfully together of our plans and prospects. 
They were visionary enough, God knows, for we 
were neophytes in an untried sphere. Still the great 
end which we had proposed to ourselves to accom- 
plish, was ever standing boldly up before us, and 
could not be winked out of sight. That end was, 
as the most illustrious geographer of the age ex- 
pressed it, "the introduction and domestication of 
the camel in our western and south western territo- 
ries," to use the words of a member of the Suffolk 



THE CAMEL HUNT. VJ 

bar, distinguished alike for his sagacity and elo- 
quence and profound patriotism, "The importation 
of an animal, destined to be the means of opening, 
to the indefatigable spirit of American adventure, 
new and boundless resources, and making available 
to our country her finest tracts,' 7 as "our noble 
selves' 7 viewed it, to furnish to that ceaseless flow 
of immigration, setting to the farthest west a new, 
safer, and more speedy means of transport, to con- 
nect the homes of our civilization with our most 
remote frontier, to perform our humble share, in 
rendering yet more marked, the new era which the 
discovery of the gold mines of California has opened 
in the world's history. 

Then the conversation took another turn, and the 
Major inquired of Tom how every thing was at 
home. 

"Well, 77 said Tom, " we're no worse than usual. 
Jane is firm and just as divine as ever in this 
matter, and as for Tom, junior, he was dreaming of 
camels when I left, for he smiled pleasantly in his 
sleep.' 7 

"Jane will be the making of you yet, 77 observed 
the Major. "She's a noble specimen of humanity. 77 

"Noble!' 7 said Tom, rising from his chair, and 
looking us full in the face. "Gentlemen, she's an 
angel ! There's something so glorious about the 
manner in which she has stood up to this move- 
ment, that has divested it, in my mind, of all its 
madcap character, and made it really a solemn 
thing. I tell you there has been, at times, when she 
has discoursed of the results to be arrived at by our 



10 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

project, such a celestial radiance hovering about her, 
that I do believe she might have stolen in among 
the angels, in the highest heaven, without their ever 
suspecting the presence of a stranger. This has 
been so marked at times, that it has almost alarmed 
me." 

" Jane," said I, "has done something more than 
discourse." 

"She has," said Tom. "Her little fortune, which 
I was never to know any thing about, but which 
was destined as a nest egg for the little scoundrel 
who calls me sire, fell into this camel movement just 
as easy as falling off a log. Not that that was any 
thing to boast of, though," continued he, while his 
finely formed lip curled in a contemptuous smile, 
"considering the proffers of assistance which poured 
in upon us on all sides, from the heavy capitalists of 
Boston and vicinity, as soon as it was known that 
the Major, with his long hair, was amongst 'em." 

" With a vengeance ! " growled the Major. 

"Such delightful sympathy as I met with," con- 
tinued Tom, musingly, "in the bosom of my own 
family. Such profound admiration of my sagacity 
and business talents, as my honored father exhibited 
when I first developed my plans, such encouraging 
allusions to certain former projects of mine, such as 
supplying the south of France with ice, the annexa- 
tion of Yucatan to the United States, and the navi- 
gation of the river Orinoco by steam." 

"My father," said I, "predicted that I would 
soon become a candidate for the alms-house." 

"My father," said Tom, "said that I would be 
lucky if I steered clear of the State prison." 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 11 

" Gentlemen," solemnly observed the Major in his 
turn, " when I left my father's house years ago, I 
regret to say that it was without his blessing. He 
intended me for a pill driver, while I intended 
myself for the disgraceful profession of literature. 
The last words which he uttered in my presence, 
was an allusion to the gallows." 

"There is one place, however, 7 ' continued Tom, 
taking no notice whatever of the Major's ignomini- 
ous allusion, "which must ever be holy ground in 
our memories, a certain brisk and brilliant little city, 
not a thousand miles from Boston, where a liberal- 
minded spirit of enterprise and open-hearted hospi- 
tality is the order of the day, and where our 
advances in this camel matter were received with 
open arms." 

"Ay," muttered the Major, "with a Judas-like 
kiss." 

"A gay delightful little place, that it is," pro- 
ceeded Tom, rubbing his hands, while the rich devil- 
try in his eyes sparkled like lights in a fog ; " where 
no one speaks evil of his neighbor, and there is no 
codfish aristocracy to frown upon nature's nobler- 
men ; where the girls marry for love and not for 
money ; where the young are encouraged and 
assisted in the furtherance of laudable enterprises at 
home; where the old are never sent away, after 
threescore years have whitened their heads, even 
to California to die; where genius is appreciated; 
where wealth, the result of former unexampled 
commercial success, isn't taken into the heart and 
there locked up so snugly that the countenance, 



12 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

which should mirror forth the diviner qualities of 
the soul, looks like the tombstone of buried treasure. 
Where the observance of the wholesome old proverb, 
that charity begins at home, is carried to such a 
praiseworthy extent, that it was never known to 
have ventured abroad, even beyond the threshold 
of its native dwelling; where the merchants don't 
allow their ships to load and unload at other ports, 
and consequently don't have to mow their wharfs, 
and make them profitable in an agricultural point of 
view; where venerable men, in the last stages of a 
well spent life, are busy in honorable occupations, 
and don't spend their days in standing upon the 
corners of the streets, discussing the merits of a 
lady's stocking, or unveiling to the gaze of morbid 
scandal mongers, a character that had better been 
hidden from view. Oh, it's a sweet place, a sweet 
place — " 

"Tom," said I, "hold on where you are, the place 
you allude to is, I presume, Sleepy Hollow, a spot 
which with all the little imperfections which you 
somewhat satirically attribute to it, gave birth to 
me." 

"It has been the death of enough other clever 
fellows to off-set any little share of gratitude to 
which it is entitled on that account," returned 
Tom. 

"To be sure," said I, "it does somewhat resemble 
a cemetery." 

"At any rate," observed Tom, "one of the last 
directories contains the sephulchral name of Coffin 
Pitts." 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 13 

"And," continued I, " the people do look like 
corpses 'galvanized to go' — and the home list, 
meaning thereby those people who never give their 
anxious mothers any trouble by being out, except at 
night, does increase, yet still we must not be too 
hard upon it during its slumbers." 

"I don't think any dread of our satire will ever 
give it the nightmare," observed the Major. 

"By the way, Major," said Tom, "do you re- 
member that old covey, who once hailed you on 
'change in Sleepy Hollow, to ask for information 
about your hair !" 

" What was that?" inquired I. 

"An old wretch," said the Major, "whom I had 
never seen before, stopped me and actually seized 
me by the button-hole." ' Sir,' said he, ' if it be 
not an impertinent question, allow me to ask why 
you wear such long hair?' 'Sir,' said I, 'it is an 
impertinent question,' and so left him." 

" He thought you a harem scarum sort of a chap, 
probably," said Tom. 

"Did you know Ashton, the celebrated natural- 
ist?" inquired the Major; "well, he used to live in 
Sleepy Hollow, but was finally driven out, having 
been proved guilty of possessing brains. When he 
left he made a solemn vow never to return. But 
after the railroad was built, he did compromise with 
his conscience by going through under ground. 
When in the tunnel he used frequently to perpetrate 
a horrible conundrum, which run something in this 
wise, 'Why is Sleepy Hollow like a potatoe hill? 
Because the best part of it is under ground.' " 
2 



14 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

"That last will do, gentlemen/' said I, "but 
before dropping the subject, allow me to observe 
that there are many honorable exceptions to the 
character which you thus deal out by wholesale to 
the inhabitants of Sleepy Hollow, men who have 
spent princely fortunes in improving and beautifying 
their native place; and who have done this without 
regard to the per centage it was to return as an in- 
vestment. There are others, as I have heard, whose 
sole business it is to hunt up cases of want and 
destitution, and administer relief. I have now in 
my mind's eye a distinguished gentleman, who may 
properly be termed the great benefactor of one por- 
tion of the old Hollow, for many years neglected 
and poverty stricken, till he conceived the grand 
idea of rebuilding it and restoring to its neighbor- 
hood its ancient trade and influence, bringing in its 
train employment and consequent comforts to many 
a sorrowing household, and this too at a direct and 
immediate sacrifice of his pecuniary interests. I am 
no flatterer of the great, but such men I honor from 
my soul ! " 

"Of course," answered Tom, "just as sure as seed- 
time and harvest follow each other in regular rota- 
tion, just so sure is it that exceptions prove the 
rule." 

Notwithstanding the bantering tone which our 
conversation had taken, we had little cause for jest. 
We had experienced difficulties of a^l sorts, and had 
succeeded in arranging our preliminary matters, only 
because we had determined not to be disheartened, 
pledging to each other in this cause, "our lives, our 
fortunes, and our sacred honor." 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 15 

Oar attempts at raising the necessary funds had 
been somewhat laughable, but as a few merry 
moments were their sole result, I shall not further 
speak of them. Those who, like the priest and the 
Levite, gave us a wide berth in passing, are too 
snugly encased in an armor of self-satisfaction to be 
reached by any shot of mine. To those who would 
have assisted us, but lacked the means of doing so, 
I can only say that, during our voyage, they were 
often alluded to in our pleasant moments, and are 
still cherished in affectionate remembrance. 

Our capital at the outset consisted of the Double 
Eagle, a clipper brig, which by some strange species 
of good luck has fallen into my hands. The little 
fortune of Jane Eddington, which she had con- 
tributed from a high sense of duty, was the canal 
through which our saucy craft was conveyed to the 
ocean. 

But we were strong in ourselves, in the respect 
and esteem which we felt for the motives and ends 
of each ; and particularly were we strong in the 
presence and sympathy of our wives. In our little 
circle without one feeling of distrust or one back- 
ward glance, we could have defied the world and 
met its crushing onset together, with a pitying 
smile. 

When we rose to separate for the last time in our 
old New England haunts, the Major filled our glasses 
again, and solerffnly proposed " The Camels." 

After drinking which, we shook hands and bade 
each other good night. 



CHAPTER III. 



OFF. 



Off — not quite, for when we met on the wharf 
next morning, there was a stout gentleman in a light 
coat perambulating the quarter-deck, who was cer- 
tainly not the captain, or either of the mates, and 
didn't look at all like any of the crew. 

We all arrived alongside at about the same hour, 
the very respectable State street one, of ten, A. M. 
The Major and his beautiful little wife were in the 
van, on the very capstan of the wharf, for that 
matter, looking profoundly down into the vessel, 
which, as the tide receded, had gradually sunk to a 
distance of some two or three feet from the wharf. 
Tom Eddington and his better angel, Jane, with 
little Tom, were perched upon a pile of boards close 
by, taking a general survey, while my wife and I 
hung back a little, from a sort of undefined suspicion 
which came over me relative to the business which 
had given us the honor of a visit from the man in 
the light coat. 

"See how he lifts his leg," sung out Tom, to a 
finely built, joyous looking seaman, leaning over the 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 17 

brig's rail, who had evidently been scraping an 
acquaintance with Tom for a moment previous to 
our arrival. 

"I would like to lift mine a little higher/' re- 
marked the man, and give him a Dutchman's hint 
that his presence could be dispensed with. 

Just then, Jim Wilson, our captain, better known 
amongst his friends as " Uncle Jim," came up out 
of the cabin. 

" Holloa," says he, "come on board; there's some 
fun left yet, I tell you. Tumble down here and let's 
enjoy it all together." 

Then we embarked. In addition to the crowd 
already mentioned, there were my brother and a 
friend by the name of Sohier, who came down to see 
us off, besides a certain little responsibility of my 
own, a mischievous little scamp, named Warren 
Warrener, the youngest of three heirs to my estate, 
and two young ladies from Erin's green isle, who 
were provided especially to furnish a little additional 
care to our worthy wives. 

"This gentleman," said the captain, introducing 
the stranger with mock solemnity, "is Mr. John 
Cockney Bull, a backslider from the society of re- 
formed inebriates, who has risen step by step in his 
various professions until he has finally arrived at 
filling the responsible office of keeper on board the 
Double Eagle; she having been seized by the mar- 
shal for a bill of fixings, amounting to a few hundred 
dollars, which, it appears, has been carelessly over- 
looked in your previous settlements." 

The man in the light coat smiled pleasantly, and 
2* 



18 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

very vacantly, as he bowed to us in general, and 
observed, with an oath, that our captain's statements 
were correct in every particular. He then resumed 
his perambulations, still continuing to smile with per- 
fect good humor at the fore-yard on one tack, and a 
point in space some two rods above the taffrail on the 
other, while the crew indulged in various little pleas- 
antries at his expense, inquiring, among other things, 
if he had been " to see the Indian Queen" lately. 
Also, if he could inform them at what time the Cape 
Ann stage went out, and occasionally observing that 
he was ahead of the ship's reckoning, and reared and 
pitched as if he was in the Gulf Stream or the South 
Channel at the very least. 

As we were ready to sail, this little matter was an 
annoyance. We, however, by a direct contribution 
raised the necessary funds, and Sohier was about 
leaving to settle the matter, when the mate stepped 
below to inquire if he should have the grinning land- 
lubber arrested for theft, as he had taken two heavy 
pulls at the cook's gin bottle since we came below, 
or pitch him into the dock, as his imaginary gale was 
increasing; and he showed signs of soon becoming 
seasick. This course was declined, and Sohier de- 
parted. 

He soon returned with a discharge, the brig's fasts 
were loosed, her topsails sheeted home, and the last 
plank about to be drawn on board, when a chaise 
with a sheriff inside drove furiously down the wharf. 
A red-faced man, with a cockade on his hat, jumped 
out, and stepping up to the good looking sailor before 
alluded to, who was steadying the plank for the light- 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 19 

coated man to come on shore, informed him that he 
was arrested for a debt of thirty dollars. The shock 
communicated to the sailor by this intelligence, was 
so sudden and severe, that by an involuntary nervous 
impulse the end of the plank was shoved from the 
wharf, and Mr. John Cockney Bull precipitated into 
the muddy waters of the dock. This raised an 
admiring shout of laughter from a group of Irish- 
men on the wharf, while the man of many liquors 
floundered ludicrously in an element with which he 
was by no means familiar. 

The brig was now fairly under weigh, and moving 
steadily through the water at the rate of three or 
four knots. I began to think it was the captain's 
intention to leave the good looking sailor, whose 
name I afterwards learned was Bill Smith, to the 
tender mercies of the sheriff and his gang. But 
when I happened to look back, I observed certain 
pantomimics going on between Tom and the man, 
which consisted in Tom's applying the forefinger of 
his right hand to the right side of his nose perpen- 
dicularly, and throwing out his tongue rather sud- 
denly, which was answered by the man's hauling 
down the lower lid of his left eye to a fearful extent, 
evidently meaning to ask us if we saw any thing 
green there. Then, with the rapidity of a pistol's 
flash, he untwined himself from the sheriff's em- 
brace, and by a graceful gymnastic evolution laid 
that respectable officer flat on his back, and without 
a word of adieu sprang into the water, where he be- 
stowed one parting kick upon the carcass of the now 
sobered cockney, and dashed out vigorously for the 



20 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

brig. When he climbed up the vessel's side, now 
going bravely through the element with her top-gal- 
lant sails set, a shout of wild delight, like those which 
of old awake the echoes of Tipperary and Gurtna- 
mora, arose from the assembled sons of Erin on the 
wharf. After it died away, one of the party stepped 
forward and sung out at the top of his lungs, " Avast 
there a bit, and shure if ye can tell us the name of 
the owners of yer saucy craft, arent we all sworn 
to go and do a day's work for 'em, frae, gratis, for 
nothing." 



CHAPTER IV. 



EVENING ON DECK. 



There is a peculiar sensation usually experienced 
when one feels the first motion of a ship as she starts 
out on a long ocean journey. It is almost always 
solemn, often sad. As he leaves terra fir ma, with all 
its comforts and conveniences, and turns his gaze 
seaward to the vast solitude of waters which can 
yield him nothing but a means of transport, and 
knows that for many days and nights he is to be in 
silent communion with its solitary turbulence, or its 
profound repose, he feels awed and half longs for 
another look at the green trees and hills and busy 
dwelling-places of the shore below the horizon. But 
our case was an exception. 

When we knew that we were fairly off, that all our 
annoyances were behind us, dwindled to the merest 
point, that nothing could keep us back from the pur- 
suit of our darling project, we felt a gushing sense of 
joy and freedom indescribable in words. I remember 
well how jocosely we pitied the homeward bound 
vessels going into the bay, laden with the cotton of 
New Orleans, or the riches of the East, for our 



22 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

adventure was still before us, teeming with rich 
promises. The only unpleasant moment of that 
day, was, when Sohier and my brother left us to 
return to town, which they did with the pilot off 
Deer Island. 

The day drifted away dreamily and swiftly, for 
the delicious relief we experienced on being free 
from the harassing cares of our outfit, brought with 
it the most delightful and soothing emotions. It 
was so pleasant to sit together on the quarter-deck, 
watching the knowing looking little craft as she 
hung on the wind with such an easy, steady, con- 
fiding air, and stood bravely out towards the deep 
sea ; to gaze from her trim hull, her clean decks and 
cream colored bulwarks, with two red port-holes of 
a side, and every rope coiled systematically in its 
place, to her graceful spars and sails, that carved 
out circles in the blue sky, and seemed to woo the 
winds; so cheerful to look upon the gallant seamen, 
with countenances unlike enough to those we see 
on State street, going silently, but not sadly, about 
their work, tightening a rope here, and covering an 
exposed spot there, and preparing the little vessel 
with as much thoughtful foresight as a mother 
would a son, for its encounter with the elements. 
Our captain, too, was a character to study in a 
quiet lazy sort of way, sauntering so lordlike on 
the weather quarter, and casting every now and 
then such an extremely sapient look at the sky and 
clouds, and to the windward horizon afar, as if he 
and the clerk of the weather had not only met 
before, but were intimate acquaintances. Then 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 23 

there was another part of the scene which was very- 
interesting, and had a comic cast withal. That was 
the galley and vicinity, including the hen-coop, pig- 
stye, and cow-shed. In the centre of this rural 
spot was an unquestionable Ethiopian, somewhat 
advanced in life, but with all the good-natured 
rolicking characteristics of his country fresh upon 
him. Bless his old ebony countenance, how it 
used to glisten and beam with satisfaction, as he 
sweltered over his fire during the hot days of the 
voyage, in preparing " the best of fare, 'sidering 
what he had to do with," as he chucklingly termed 
his excellent dishes. So the day went pleasantly 
by, the many novelties about us eliciting occasion- 
ally an idle remark, but when looking and talking 
bore the remotest resemblance to work, and the 
faintest signs of fatigue were visible, we just shut 
our eyes, and were content to snuff up the fresh sea 
breeze, abandoning ourselves to the most exquisite of 
reveries. 

When evening came we assembled again on the 
quarter-deck. It was a fine clear night. The sky 
was thickly studded with stars, above the fleecy 
clouds were drifting seaward, and we, with all our 
snowy toggery set, followed like a white cloud 
below. 

"See," said the major, suddenly, "there's a 
light away off here abreast of us. Where can that 
be?" 

"Cape Cod Highlands," answered the captain, 
pausing a moment in his rounds. 

"Can it be possible," asked Jane, with a very 



24 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

common simplicity, "that people live so far out to 
sea ? " 

"We are not such an extraordinary distance," 
said the captain. "I think we have sailed some 
forty miles from Boston." 

" God be praised for those forty miles at any 
rate!" ejaculated the major, fervently. 

" They must be a lively set of boys," said Tom, 
" who reside on the cape, and the business of 
wrecking, which I understand they follow to con- 
siderable extent, must be highly convivial." 

The captain was about to correct Tom's under- 
standing with regard to the pursuits of the cape 
boys, when Jane interrupted him. 

"What a glorious idea is that of the light-house. 
How calm and steady old Cape Cod shines, and to 
think that it is never missing at its post night after 
night, answering the radiance of the stars, and often 
outwatching them, or flinging back its own glimmer 
like a ray of sunlight through the storm, to cheer or 
to warn, but always for good ! " 

"It is truly so," said the major, "and calmly 
as we regard it, there may be some at this very 
moment looking at it with eyes dim with joyful 
tears, some who see it after years of absence, and 
forget, in its bright presence, the storms which 
threatened to engulf them off the Horn, or the 
sickness which unmanned them in a foreign land; 
they look upon it as one of the great eyes of their 
country, looking out for them over the deep, and 
brightening at their return." 

"Ay," said the captain, "you are right enough 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 25 

there; many a poor fellow has seen the night when 
he would have bartered a kingdom, for a good 
squint at the Highland light, not such a very 
brilliant affair in itself after all, and yet has gone to 
the bottom without a murmur." 

" Because," continued the major, following up the 
captain's remarks, "he died in the breach. He was 
fulfilling a destiny, such as the highest must admire. 
A sailor who dies at sea, in the pursuit of honest 
enterprise, ought not to whimper like a cowardly 
landlubber between the sheets, for his last act is in 
accordance with the intentions of the Almighty, 
when he made man, and bade him i work out his 
own salvation.' " 

" A curious interpretation of a very orthodox 
passage," observed Tom. 

"My belief is," said the major, "that an idler 
loses all claim to a share in the kingdom of heaven. 
While there is so much remains to be done in this 
planet, the man who does nothing for the common 
good, is worse than a sneak, he is a criminal." 

"Come in lemons and be squeezed," parenthesized 
Tom. 

"And," pursued the major, "he is for the same 
reason entitled to a larger portion of the bliss yet in 
store for humanity, who denies himself like the 
sailor, so many comforts and luxuries, and goes 
bravely forth to meet the elements, and make them 
subservient to the wants of his brethren." 

"But these people who live here," said Jane, 
coming back to the starting point in the conversa- 
3 



26 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

tion, " must be a different style of folk altogether, 
from those we meet in the city." 

"Of course they are," said Tom, "they wear 
tremendous boots, call codfish cape turkeys, are 
visited semi-annually by a writing-master with long 
hair, sport a pony express, which travels through 
the sand at the rate of seven miles in four hours, go 
to meeting regularly every Sunday morning, and 
spread their nets for fish in the afternoon." 

"Tom, you are too bad," said Jane, with a 
reproving smile. 

"I only know what I have heard," answered that 
gay young gentleman. "I was told that a young 
minister once exchanged with the Provincetown 
preacher, and after the forenoon's service, stated 
that he should preach again in the afternoon, at the 
same place, service to commence at half past two 
o'clock. This announcement caused no little con- 
fusion among the congregation, who looked from 
one to another more in sorrow than in anger. An 
explanation was needed, and at last a voice was 
heard to call on 'Skipper Gurry ' to explain. The 
cry was echoed on all sides, ' Yes, skipper, you tell 
him/ accompanied by exclamations from the ladies 
of, 'poor fellow, and so young.' When 'silence, 
like a poultice, came,' an old gentleman rose and 
said; 'Sir, you're a stranger, and we have heard 
what you had to say this morning, but it has been 
thought best for me to inform you, that you needn't 
trouble yourself to come down here this afternoon 
to preach, as we're all going over to Truro to help 
the neighbors spread fish.' " 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 27 

"Tom is so fond of anecdotes,'' apologized Jane, 
"that he never inquires into the correctness of 
them." 

" And Jane is so misty and ethereal," retorted 
Tom, "that I expect to see her translated to heaven 
one of these days, as Enoch was, balloon fashion." 

So different were the humors of this strange 
couple, and yet they loved each other as only the 
true and large hearted know how to love. 



CHAPTER V. 



A STORM. 



The first three days of our voyage were pleasant, 
but towards evening of the fourth, a threatening 
aspect appeared in the northwest. Cloud upon 
cloud seemed gathering there, and uniting their 
colors and strength, till the intensity of blue deep- 
ened almost into black. There they lay piled when 
the sun went down, refusing sternly to be gilded 
by his parting rays, and evidently awaiting the 
shadows of night, to let loose their pent-up fury. 

"There's a Jack nor 5 wester coming," said the 
captain, as we took our seats at the supper table, 
" that'll give our sticks a trial. " 

"Aye," observed the mate, with eyes intent upon 
his cup of strong black tea, " it looks wicked." 

" Our passengers already begin to look a little 
blue about the gills," continued the captain, pleas- 
antly, "but we are hardly in the Gulf as yet; 
to-morrow, if we have good luck, and we happen to 
catch an old-fashioned nor' wester at the same time, 
there'll be plenty of room at table, and fat pork and 
molasses will go a begging." 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 29 

"I should like, of all things," said Tom, "a real 
screaming gale. I left my accounts in rather an 
unsettled state, and should be glad of an opportunity 
to cast them up here." 

We began to experience the premonitory symp- 
toms of a storm. The wind had lulled for a 
moment, and the swell was increasing, which, 
mingling with the current, and running crosswise to 
it, caused a very unpleasant motion in our little 
craft. There was a certain gloom and dampness 
in the atmosphere, which forebode something, we 
hardly knew what, and would have had a very 
depressing effect on our spirits, but for an incident, 
laughable enough under the melancholy circum- 
stances in which we were placed. 

We had for steward a mulatto boy, son of a 
colored preacher, who, we learned to our consterna- 
tion, after we were fairly under weigh, had never 
been to sea before. This young man, the son of 
pious parents, had received such an exclusively 
excellent moral education, that he was totally 
unfit for the practical duties of life, and was con- 
tinually suffering his imagination to lead off into 
the regions of nowhere, when he was expressly 
wanted to attend to the duties for which he shipped, 
in the very tangible locality of the Double Eagle. 

In the business of setting the table, he was pecu- 
liarly unfortunate, and the ironical manner in which 
the captain was pleased to correct him, only served 
to complete the ordinary confusion of his ideas, and 
put him in a state of the most ludicrous bewilder- 
ment. On this evening the prospect of a gale had 
3* 



30 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

somewhat alarmed him, and he went through the 
motions, as if his heart was fin the highlands," 
or any where but where it should have been. 

When the captain was about to carve the "salt 
horse," as he termed it, it appeared that the carv- 
ing knife was missing. " Here, steward," said he, 
" take away this carving knife; we can master a 
tender animal like this with our fingers." 

The steward looked vacantly at the table, but 
seeing no carving knife to remove, waited further 
orders. 

" Thunder and Mars ! " roared the captain, " why 
don't you bring along the carving knife, and wake 
up?" 

"Aye, aye sir, pretty directly," was Stephen's 
stereotyped answer. 

By several similar orders the table was at last 
covered, and after Stephen had at the special request 
of the captain taken a survey thereof through the 
spy-glass, and seen nothing wanting but salt, he 
was allowed to go ; and Bridget coming in at that 
time with a pitcher full of bilge-water, which she 
got from the pump, as she stated, created by her 
mistake such feelings of droll disgust, that the cler- 
gyman's son, with all his weaknesses, was for a 
moment forgotten. 

For a moment only. A single sip of the tea 
showed it to be of most extraordinary strength, as 
if the boy had taken counsel of his fears, and seeing 
the approach of a dirty night, had resolved that the 
officers should be awake and watching. It was in- 
deed strong without a parallel. 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 31 

"Dish water again!'' mattered the captain, as 
he sung out for " steward," 

"Oh, don't be too hard with the poor crature," 
interposed Miss Bridget, " for shure I knowed he 
had a failing for bringing down wake tay, and it's a 
very large handful that I put in meself." 

"Steward! " again roared out the captain. 

"Was it you called," asked the boy, presenting 
himself. 

"Steward," said the captain, eyeing him sternly, 
" this is the third time that you have forgotten the 
tea, and given us nothing but hot water for supper. 
If it occurs again, look out ! " 

The boy turned several shades whiter, and almost 
held his breath in astonishment at the accusation. 
His knees fairly shook under him, as he lifted up 
his hands and answered solemnly, — 

"Captain, I knowed as how you liked it strong, 
and so help me God, Davy Jones' locker or not, I 
put in a heaping quart." 

The idea of three pints of tea to about three 
quarts of water, was so very excellent, that we all 
drank of the mixture without a murmur. All symp- 
toms of qualmishness immediately vanished, and 
the cheerful effects of the beverage were soon visible 
in the extreme gaiety which followed. Old jokes, 
long forgotten, were dragged from their dormitories, 
and recracked with a gusto undreamed of in their 
original career. The Major was decidedly rich in 
ranger reminiscences, while Tom and I discussed 
college scrapes, and the ladies of our party with be- 
coming modesty went back to their school days. For 



32 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

all that our conversation and demeanor showed, we 
might have been in the extensive kitchen of some 
old farm-house toasting our shins before a glorious 
old fashioned wood-fire, to the music of hissing cider 
and cracking nuts ; instead of under the deck of a 
frail bark, in the depth of winter, on the northern 
edge of the Gulf, and a wicked nor'wester already- 
muttering in the distance. The captain, too, unbent 
somewhat from his usual severity, and made an- 
other call for the steward, whom he complimented 
jocosely on the excellence of his tea, assuring him 
that he freely forgave him for his lack of experience. 
Which condescension was rather doggedly received 
by Stephen, who was evidently very foggy as to its 
import. 

The gale soon commenced in good earnest. The 
creaking timbers, and straining spars — and now 
and then a thump from a huge sea breaking against 
our sides — told us that our little vessel was bravely 
breasting the elements. With the exception of Tom 
we all retired to our berths; though, thanks to the 
steward's tea, sleep was out of the question. The lit- 
tle ones alone slept soundly during that war of winds, 
occasionally aroused by a heavier lurch than ordi- 
nary, and immediately relapsing into their quondam 
state of repose. Tom, attired in a complete suit of 
pilot cloth, with a most unmistakable sou'wester 
on his head, announced his intention of standing 
watch. 

"Take good care of the cow, Tom," said one. 
" See that there's no foul play in the hen-coop/' 
said another. 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 33 

" Don't forget to call us," observed the major, "if 
the cook wants a reef in his stove pipe." 

" Mind and don't get asleep, Tom," cautioned the 
captain, "and no smoking abaft the bobstay." 

Tom was not long on deck. He soon returned, 
drenched through. On being asked how the brig 
headed, he honestly averred that he did not know, 
but that she seemed in as great a fix as the man 
who was knocked into the middle of next week 
and looked both ways for Sunday. Tom then fol- 
lowed the example of all the rest, and turned in. 

"Hilloa," said the major, pointing to the staircase, 
" here's a living proof of the truth of the assertion 
made by William Shakspeare, that "there be land 
rats and water rats," for surely this is one of the 
latter. 

It was the mate, enveloped in an entire suit of 
rubber cloth, looking as the last man must have done 
who got into the ark. 

Tom inquired if it sprinkled, but the mate, intent 
upon his duty, proceeded steadily to the state rooms 
of the second officer, and having first proposed an 
interrogatory in no whispered tones, as to whether 
life was extinct in his body, called out grimly, 
"shorten sail." 

This laconic order has .never at any other time 
been heard by me without being accompanied by 
some shadowy forebodings of evil. It is no cheerful 
sight to see a poor fellow, just snugly ensconced 
within his blanket after a weary watch on deck, and 
fairly embraced in the arms of the " sweet restorer," 
dreaming perchance soothingly of his hearth-side 



34 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

and its happy faces, roused suddenly to face the 
chilling blast, and do combat with the roaring ele- 
ments on a frail spar high in air; to know that he is 
to be wet to the skin, and scarcely reclothed ere the 
same stern summons may call him forth again, or to 
take the sailor's too frequent lot expressed in their 
peculiar terms, "to turn in wet and turn out smok- 
ing." This has always seemed to me one of the 
hard things of life; but now the spirit of strong tea 
was careering madly in our veins, and all this too 
furnished food for our carousal. 

As the gallant fellow went somewhat sleepily but 
unflinchingly about his task of dressing, and crept 
up the cabin stairs to answer the requisitions of the 
howling tempest, and show the wind-god that we 
were ready to meet him even in his maddest revel, 
I am sorry to say, that unfeeling allusions were made 
to umbrellas, india rubber over-shoes, and the like; 
and Tom went so far as to hint that if working 
nights was the rule on board of that ship, he should 
trouble somebody to pass his hat, and go on shore 
forthwith. 

Our spirits never flagged, and what was strangest 
of all, none of us were sick. Reminiscences of the 
past flitted drolly before us, and the fun we extracted 
from every thing about us made that otherwise fear- 
ful night pass swiftly by. It is now more than a 
twelvemonth since. Our little party is scattered far 
and wide, and one sleeps calmly and forever in the 
bosom of the sea ; but I can recall every incident of 
that strange scene as vividly as if it were now re- 
acting before me. It was one of those rare moments 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 35 

of existence when the corporeal frame is in complete 
subjection to the spirit, which goes revelling through 
time and space, acknowledging no law but its own 
wild will ; when nothing is so sacred but that we 
may approach and commune with it, nothing so high 
and hallowed in man's esteem, but that, if we see it 
to be false and worthless in itself, we may tear the 
veil from its ghastly or putrid form, and exult 
laughingly in the act. 

And it was not only of the past that we spoke. 
The " Jerusalem of our early days " claimed not all 
our thoughts and conversation. Did we not, from 
the very nature of our enterprise, belong to the 
Future? Were we not an outguard of that gallant 
army already far on its unwavering march to the 
Pacific shores? Had not the same wild spirit of 
chivalry animated us, which had sent so many 
thousands out before, to do battle on a foreign shore 
for the dear ones left behind, and win for their pos- 
terity a name and honor among men ? Aye, were 
we not rather all crusaders — and was not this last 
crusade the noblest according to the spirit of the 
age? Is not gold a god, and were we not bound to 
rescue it from the miserable Indians and Kanakas 
who from time immemorial have guarded its holy 
sepulchre? 

As we lay there, unmindful of the dangers which 
encompassed us, we thanked God again, as we had 
often before done in the solitude of our own musings, 
for California, his last most acceptable gift to man. It 
was glorious to think that the glittering metal, which 
heretofore, in the hands of the cunning, had pos- 



36 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

sessed power even sufficient to blind the eyes of the 
beholder, and confuse his notions of good and evil, 
was there to be found in such masses, that from 
its familiarity should spring contempt; to think that 
a new era was indeed dawning upon the world, 
that the dust of the earth should no longer drive 
from the threshold all that was best and purest, pur- 
chasing for its possessor forbidden joys ; that the love 
of it should cease to absorb the life-blood of the soul, 
leaving 

" the heart nncheered and void, 
The spirit uncultivated as a wilderness ; " 

to think that our children should have another 
standard of greatness presented to them, than that 
of hoarded wealth ; that such things as truth, honor, 
genius, and brotherly love, might come to be re- 
garded as of some import, and that the multiplica- 
tion table might cease to be, forever and forever, 

" Their creed, their pater noster, and their decalogue. " 

The idea was so delightful, that as we discussed it 
we became almost delirious with joy. 

It was very pleasant, too, to think that in the last 
days of the reign of money, the tables were to be 
turned, and the old changers to be driven, panic- 
stricken, from the temple of their Most High ; that 
the sturdy, brave-hearted fellows who sundered 
every other tie because the galling chain of monop- 
olized wealth was eating into their soul, were one 
day to take up their homeward tramp, and to meet 
their old masters face to face, on their own ground, 
and beat them by long odds. And then we were to 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 37 

help in our humble way these heroes more speedily 
on their westward march, till they reached at length 
the far-famed Sacramento, from whose sunny banks 
they would laugh back a gay defiance to their quon- 
dam oppressors. The thought was really quite con- 
vivial. 

Hawthorne has said, "It is not good to cherish a 
solitary ambition." In our little community we 
conducted things so much on the " mutual admira- 
tion" system, that we were in danger of becoming 
the supremest of egotists, or, as Tom expressed it, of 
believing ourselves to be " no small beer." Certain 
it is, that we looked with a sanguine eye upon our 
enterprise and its probable results, and would have 
thanked nobody for comparing us to 

" Earth's first kings, the Argo's gallant sailors, 
Heroes in history, and gods in song." 

We finally grew tired of laying still, and a propo- 
sition to go on deck was immediately acceded to, 
with uproarious applause. 



CHAPTER VI. 



FOREBODINQS. 



Where shall the lover of "the fierce, beautiful, 
and free," find any thing comparable with a storm 
at sea. Excuse the rhyme, indulgent reader, which 
I am ready to take oath was unintentional, and I 
will spare you the benefit of a rhapsody with which 
you were on the point of being treated. 

We clambered up the cabin stairs, without much 
regard to precedence. Our costume, for the nonce, 
would have completely satisfied any admirer of the 
picturesque. The major was terrific in the second- 
hand splendor of a defunct Mexican ranchero. 
Tom had added a red woollen comforter to his bodily 
attire, which he wore in the form of a sash, with 
several short pipes and a rusty hatchet stuck therein, 
while his head gear consisted of a high Dutch cap, 
with a large pea-green tassel appended to the top. 
I distinctly remember having a great deal of trouble 
in hauling on a pair of Cape Cod boots, belonging 
to the second mate, and losing my balance in a 
severe lurch of the vessel, which sent me with a 
tremendous shock agaist the clumsy carcass of the 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 39 

steward, who, in his tarn, passed himself along to 
the mate's state-room, and brought up there all 
standing, after having brought down, with a fatal 
crash, sundry boxes of the occupant's indelible 
ink, his private adventure. A red steeple-chase 
jacket, with sad-colored velvet pants, once admired 
on the course at West Cambridge, and a glazed 
skullcap, completed my attire. As for the ladies, 
they were singularly happy in their metamorphosis, 
habiting themselves in the first garments which 
came to hand, promising protection from the ele- 
ments, and these being such feminine articles as 
monkey-peas, Tom and Jerries, oil-cloth jackets, 
and every form and shape of tarpaulins, the tout 
ensemble of the group may be easily imagined. 
I forgot to mention in my account of the major's 
costume, that his boots were ornamented with a 
huge pair of Spanish spurs, and his cap being mis- 
placed and no sombrero at hand, he had, in the 
hurry of the moment, crowned himself with an 
ancient white silk bonnet, belonging to his worthy 
lady. 

But the fierce grandeur and wild solemnity of the 
scene, which broke suddenly upon our vision, as we 
crept from out of the companion-way, I shall never 
forget. The rain had ceased, though still battalions 
of dark frowning clouds were visible, hurrying to 
and fro in different parts of the heavens. The moon 
was nearly full, and occasionally sailed out in a 
beautiful blue patch of sky, like a fair queen gazing 
pitifully over her jarring and tempestuous domain. 
The mad, roaring, tumbling sea, was lit up by her 



40 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 



glance, and as the wind in its fierceness lifted the 
spray from the climbing billows, and bore it shiv- 
ering through our naked masts, it almost seemed 
that we could see the blast. The wind had shifted 
to the northeast, and showed no signs of abating. 
All our canvass was snugly furled except the main- 
topsail, which they told me was " close reefed," and 
which, united with the action of the helm, kept the 
vessel looking steadily to windward. If I felt then, 
in every fibre of my system, a profound sense of our 
own insignificance, aye nothingness, surrounded as 
we were by those mountain billows, either one of 
which seemed capable of taking us down at a 
swallow, and closing over our grave without adding 
another sigh to the mournful rushing of the winds, 
I must also say, that I felt a corresponding admira- 
tion of that tact which so guided our vessel as to 
enable her to look these billows calmly and steadily 
in the face, and feel them fall baffled and powerless 
at her side. 

The captain was leaning heavily on the weather 
quarter-rail, watching alternately the clouds, the 
sea, and our taper sticks. Bill Smith, the handsome 
sailor, was lounging idly at the wheel, chewing his 
weed, and looking as self-possessed as if yarn- 
spinning in front of his old landlord's house at the 
North End. 

" You seem to be taking it easy, captain," said 
Tom, saluting him with a jerk upon the green tassel. 

" Why, yes," said the captain; "you know the 
story, I suppose, of the boy who returned from his 
first voyage, and was asked by his grandmother, 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 41 

what was the easiest part of the business; * Laying 
to,' says he. ' Well then,' said she, ' the next time 
you go I shall pray that you may lay to all the 
voyage.' " 

" I never felt till now," said Jane, " the full force 
and beauty of Byron's apostrophe to the ocean." 

" You never looked, probably, quite so much* like 
a sailor before," observed Tom, alluding, perhaps, to 
her oil-cloth jacket and hard-looking Captain Cuttle 
sort of tarpaulin, which she wore. 

"I can now understand that glorious outbreak, 
commencing — 

' There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,' 

and can see truth as well as the highest poetry in the 
somewhat heretofore paradoxical allusion to 'music 
in its roar.' " 

"Roaring music," I ventured to observe, "is 
nothing very unusual ; when I was at Cambridge, 
we were favored with specimens every summer 
evening in the college yard." 

" Those magnificent stanzas about old ocean," 
continued Jane, " were an appropriate finale to that 
soul -inspiring poem. Would to God that he had 
never written more, rather than have left all that he 
since wrote to the world. His genius was not his 
master, but his passions, and these made that godlike 
talent of his cut such droll and ridiculous capers, 
that no sane mind could ever envy such a constitu- 
tion. It seems to me, though I never thought of 
it before, that he has not inaptly described the 
power of his temperament, over what might be 
4# 



42 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

termed himself, in his figure of the power of ocean 
over man, 

c Spurning him from thy bosom to the skies, 

And dashest him again to earth — there let him lay.' " 

" And there," observed the major, clinching the 
matter, " as long as truth and faith and honor and 
a love of genuine poetry exists, he will lay — " 

"Eggs?" queried Tom, curtly, but I fear not 
originally. 

Somebody observed to the major, that he did not 
seem to be an admirer of Byron. 

" Admirer ! " returned the martial wearer of ran- 
chero finery and Washington street handicraft, 'I 
hate him, I despise him; the only feeling with which 
the mention of his name ever inspires me, is one of 
contempt and loathing. I hate him because he has 
degraded the name of poet by pretending to the 
honor. All the best ideas which figure in his works, 
he stole from his contemporaries, the mawkish senti- 
mentality and beastly degradation which he displays, 
are original. Carlyle has said, that l He who would 
write epic poetry, must make his whole life an 
epic poem,' and the rule holds good with regard to 
all poetry. Now if any body can tell me of any 
thing pure, modest, self-denying, or heroic, in ihe 
career of Byron, why he is welcome to my hat! " 

"Your bonnet," parenthesized Tom. 

"Shelley was a man of many failings," con- 
tinued the major, " but he was a poet. He didn't get 
tipsy and abuse the world for recommending him to 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 43 

keep away from gin shops. There seemed to be a 
struggle always going on in the depths of his soul 
for something better, though he hardly knew what. 
If he, too, warred with the world, he was far from 
being supremely satisfied with himself. But when 
a brighter mood was on him, and a glimpse of that 
heaven, for which he had so long and often vainly 
wept, was revealed for a moment to his enraptured 
gaze, with what a shout of wild delight did he soar, 
like a young eagle regardless of the clouds, and 
aiming only for the blue ether far beyond. Shelley 
was often sad, but seldom savage, and sadness is 
one great element of poetry. If Byron has seemed 
to describe himself in a measure, in his stanzas to 
the ocean, may we not also from Shelley's lines to the 
moon, get some insight into his unquiet character 

1 Art thou pale for weariness 
Of climbing heaven, and gazing on the earth, 

Wandering companionless 
Among the stars that have a different birth, 
And ever changing like a joyless eye, 
That finds no object worthy of its constancy.' " 

" All this," said Tom, "is very fine, and reminds 
me of my college days, and how we used to son- 
netize the moon coming back from Boston after the 
theatre and oysters, but you mustn't feel offended, 
major, if I should say that you are perfectly bewitch- 
ing in that exquisite costume of yours, holding on to 
the belaying pin, and dancing so gracefully to keep 
yourself on your pegs. What a pity that some of 
your friends, the capitalists of Boston, couldn't see 
you now, and listen to your eloquence in behalf of 



44 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

Shelley, and hear your feeling recital of his outbreak 
to the moon." 

A low suppressed whistle from the sailor at the 
wheel, drew off our attention from the scurrilous 
Tom. 

"Any tobacco?" inquired he in a very loud 
whisper, which was just heard above the roar of 
winds. 

" Here's a piece," said my wife, pulling out a 
large quid from her pea-jacket pocket. 
u Knife?" was a second inquiry. 
" Here's one," said the major's wife, untying a 
piece of twine, which bound a huge jackuife to a 
button-hole of the rough Tom and Jerry, hi which 
her frail form was enveloped. 

" This is decidedly patriarchal, and worthy of 
Brook Farm," observed Tom, drawing a well filled 
pipe from his sash, "and as you all seem to be 
enjoying yourselves after a fashion, why I'll follow 
suit and have a smoke." 

As Tom turned off to light his pipe by the binnacle 
lamp, his wife followed him aft, holding on by the 
weather monkey-rail. Oh God, what a sudden, 
chilling, fearful story, went hissing to my heart, as 
the lamplight fell upon her countenance. What 
was it there, that made my limbs tremble and refuse 
me support? What was it, more terrible than the 
dreadful storm raging above and around us, that 
overcame me, and almost flattened me to the deck 
with superstitious dread? Had the solemn, awful 
truth been hidden from us in sunshine, to strike 
home with ten thousand times more power at mid- 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 45 

night, during that raging tempest? In the unnatural 
beauty of that countenance, and the sparkle of those 
eyes, I read, as in a book, that one of our party 
would soon be with us in the flesh no more. 

Who has not experienced, at some period of his 
existence, a sensation as if a thunderbolt hung sus- 
pended above his head, and that a breath might 
cause its fatal fall ? Who has never felt a terrible 
reaction of spirits, that left nothing in the future to 
desire? Who has never been suddenly possessed 
with the knowledge, in the midst of gaiety and 
unbridled enjoyment, that a certain point could not 
be passed, and that to reach it would be woe 
unutterable? 

I staggered up to where the major stood beside his 
wife, watching the mountain billows. As they fell 
you could look far into their depths, and in the 
moonlight it was easy to imagine strange forms 
there. The major's wife, who had a peculiar gift, 
which, as we had often remarked, seemed like 
second sight, was describing, in graphic language 
to her husband, what she saw beneath the sea. Her 
disclosures had evidently been pleasant, up to that 
moment, as a tranquil smile rested upon the features 
of each. But when I stood beside them, all at once 
her expression changed to that of dread. Her face 
became white with awe, as she described, down, 
down at the bottom, in the hollow of a coral reef, a 
corpse in a snowy shroud, and the next instant fell 
fainting in the major's arms, as she feebly told that 
in its countenance she had recognised the features of 
Jane. 



46 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

They were just descending below the companion- 
way, and I was assisting my wife towards the same 
quarter, when a loud shout from the captain, calling 
us to "hold on," arrested our course. The wind 
had suddenly shifted back to the northwest, and by 
its effect on our scanty canvass, had caused the 
vessel to fall off into the trough of the sea. A huge 
and wicked looking roller was bearing directly down 
upon us, and seemed ruthlessly bent on our destruc- 
tion. We clutched at whatever was nearest, and 
held our breath as it broke sweeping over us, 
drenching and almost stunning us with its roar, and 
carrying with it in its retreat loose spars, buckets, 
and several other incumbrances of the deck. A 
piercing shriek from Jane made me cold with terror, 
and for a moment I thought that my worst fore- 
bodings were at once realized, and that the monster 
billow had borne her off in its embrace. She was 
standing, however, in the same place as before, 
and calling upon Tom, whom she missed from the 
deck. 

u All right," sung out a voice about half way up 
the main shrouds, " you observe that I knew what 
was coming, and took the precaution of lashing 
myself here, and it was lucky that I did so, or that 
rascally sea would have put my pipe out." 

The vessel was again brought to the wind, but 
we were no longer in the mood to enjoy the scene. 
We were very cold, and had a decided need of dry 
clothes. The deck was in a very undesirable state 
of confusion. The pigs, hens, and cow, were all 
adrift, and made a barn-yard clatter, that at another 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 47 

moment would have amused us by its droll contre- 
temps. 

1 saw the ladies safe down stairs, and then fol- 
lowed them, leaving Tom smoking in the rigging. 

Oh, if our forebodings were to prove true, what 
a golden thread would be unwoven out of his gay 
fanciful existence, and what a wretched blank 
would life thenceforth be to him ! 



CHAPTER VII. 

DEATH. 

Towards morning I fell into a sort of half dozing 
state, in which my dreams were strangely mingled 
with a kind of misty consciousness of things around 
me. Faces, years since, beneath the sod, came and 
peered at me as I lay there, tantalizing me by their 
lifelike, gleeful aspect, into a vague doubt of my 
own identity. Forms that I never had seen, and 
shall never see again, came apparently out of the 
ship's timbers, and flitted before me, perplexing me 
in a vain endeavor to recollect when and where I 
had met those familiar features. Strange places, 
and well known places, passed by like a panorama, 
and frequently two or three different and far apart 
spots, were united and mystically mixed up together 
in such a way, that no surprise was felt on my part. 
In the midst of such grotesque sights and emotions, 
I was every now and then aware, that a furious gale 
was raging not far from my dormitory, and that 
certain lively members of our party were a little 
silent all at once. There was, too, an idea that 
returned to me at regular intervals, the idea that is 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 49 

common as the air or running water, that comes 
always with all melancholy adjuncts, the solemn idea 
of death ; and in singular conjunction with it came 
painful sounds from Jane's state-room, which told 
me that she was very sick, and this distressful noise 
seemed to give strength and encouragement to the 
sad idea, which fed upon it. Had I been fairly 
awake, I should have known it proceeded only from 
seasickness, and that no fatal results were to be 
apprehended therefrom. 

I also remember, just after the cold dawn of day, 
the appearance of the dubious steward in the cabin, 
making some preliminary arrangements for his great 
business of the day — setting the table. He, poor 
fellow, was evidently seasick, and staggered about 
like an uncertain ghost. The captain came down 
and cautioned him against putting on the rack, as 
the breakfast things were of no account whatever, 
and it was of no consequence if every thing did get 
smashed. The unfortunate Stephen interpreted this 
command literally, and in a few seconds the din of 
breaking crockery fell upon our ears, accompanied 
by a left-handed blessing from the captain, and an 
idiotic howling from the steward, that was decidedly 
the worst thing yet. 

At noon, when the captain and officers came 
below to dinner, the former made a gay but futile 
attempt to "bring us out," by saying that the vessel 
was off before the wind, scudding under reefed 
foresail, and that the sea was going down fast, 
but there was not a solitary resurrection in conse- 
quence. 

5 



50 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

It was not until four o'clock in the afternoon, that 
the pioneer ventured forth into the main cabin, the 
redoubtable major, with pale face and tangled hair. 
With the dogged determination of an inveterate, he 
proceeded, as straight as his tottering limbs would 
carry him, to the steward's pantry, where he took 
from the teapot a pretty stiff " hair of the dog that 
bit him," and seemed greatly refreshed thereby. 

Tom followed, and I not choosing to be left alone, 
in the enjoyment of inglorious ease, crept out "like 
snail unwillingly." 

The steward produced some cold curried fowl, a 
bottle of otard, and sea biscuit, by the aid of which 
we comforted our inner man, and felt better. 

The storm was nearly over. About sundown the 
reefs were shaken out, and our saucy bark again 
bounded lightly over the waves, leaving the dreary 
gulf behind us. The night opened finely, and the 
sea soon became comparatively smooth. More can- 
vass was spread, and the wind being quarterly, 
every thing told, till we got on the eleven knot order 
of travelling again, which the captain said was not 
slow. The ladies were recovering from their sea- 
sickness, and the children were already well. In 
fact, as Tom Noddy used to say, u things began to 
wear a brighter aspect." 

The next day was very pleasant, and we were 
all on deck again — all but Jane, whose stateroom 
was now a sick chamber. There was a milder 
atmosphere about us, that was very soothing to our 
harassed spirits and weary frames, as if the first 
faint breath of a tropic clime had drifted unawares 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 51 

to a drearier confine, but there was also that brood- 
ing in onr hearts, from which coldness irradiated as 
a centre, more than sufficient to counteract the 
sunshine of a world. 

I would gladly pass over the history of the few 
succeeding days, for I have no heart to describe 
their melancholy events. Every thing that unre- 
mitting care and cunning remedies could do, was 
done to no purpose. An insidious disease, whose 
name and nature we could not even suspect, was 
swiftly gaining a certain hold, and we felt that Jane 
must die. After her seasickness left her, her frame 
seemed wearied out, as if it had long been wasting 
away, and waited but this last struggle for its final 
overthrow. Her soul was calm and happy and 
serene as ever. It seemed as if she was dying of 
too much spiritual life, as if " the sword was wear- 
ing through the scabbard." Poor Tom groped about 
like a man in a dream, comforting himself solitarily 
with the hope that his dear wife would soon be well 
again, and never allowing himself to look forward 
to the possible end. 

It is an old story, that "the good die young," but 
we can never reconcile ourselves to a belief in its 
unvarying truth. We have learned from childhood, 
and perhaps know by instinct, that "like answereth 
unto like," and that those who have in their nature 
more of heaven than of earth, soon go to their home 
beyond the stars. But still we are always cheating 
ourselves into the conviction, that the exception to 
the rule will be found in our relations of life. To 
think that she who was so pure, so modest and 



52 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

unselfish, and had contributed so essentially to our 
enterprise, might be taken from us, was like blotting 
out its very soul, and the mere contemplation of it 
made us feel as if the "star which led us on " was 
hidden by a threatening cloud. We had not yet 
begun to study the solemn lesson which her death 
was to teach. 

But the day came at last. It was a bright sun- 
shiny day, and as warm as our early summer. 
There was a gentle air stirring from the southwest, 
which kept us moving, but so steadily that we felt 
no motion below deck. They had brought Jane 
from her state-room to the main cabin, where she 
reclined, propped up by pillows, in a Canton chair. 
The cabin windows were up, and the mild breeze 
drawing through caused a delicious coolness. She 
was unchanged, except that she was paler and 
thinner than ever, and that her soul shone more 
vividly through its more transparent dwelling. 

It is of no import to this narrative how she died; 
how we stood about her couch watching the lamp 
of life, as it flickered and finally went out. We 
could not weep as we looked upon her, seemingly 
about to fall asleep, the very ideal of sublime resig- 
nation. If we reflected, with a pang of self-reproach, 
that we had been instrumental in bringing her away 
from the home circle, she was so well fitted to adorn 
and beautify, to die in the solitude of ocean, all the 
sting was gone when our prophetic imagination led 
us to behold the glory and beatitude of her endless 
future. It seemed hard that one so young and full 
of life and hope and happiness should die, but oh, 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 53 

the unspeakable blessedness of the thought, that 
death for her was but a translation to a place among 
the shining ones, who "summer high in bliss upon 
the hills of God." 

"I had always thought," said she, looking at us 
so affectionately, while a half playful smile flitted 
over her paling features, " to have been buried in 
the old family tomb in the graveyard on the com- 
mon, near which children play in summer, and 
where you and I, Tom, used sometimes to walk on 
Sunday evenings. But it's no matter if one way- 
ward child is wanting in that decaying household. 
She was enough unlike the others in her life, and in 
her death it is, perhaps, fit that she should be 
separated from them. Only I do not wish for you 
to think of me as lying cold and solitary ever so far 
down in the depths of the dark sea, but as being, 
where I hope soon to be, among the happy spirits 
whom God loves." 

She spoke but little more, for she was growing 
very feeble. 

Tom sat upon the transum by her side, holding 
her hand, and often imprinting passionate kisses on 
her brow. He did not weep, and it was evident that 
he had not begun to realize the dreadful truth. 
Little Tom's sobs were painful enough. But all 
could not keep her back one moment from her 
journey's end. Her last faintly uttered words were 
of the satisfaction which she experienced in dying, 
as she did thus far in the realization of a long 
cherished scheme, and of love and comfort to Tom, 
and maternal solicitude for her darling boy. When 

5* 



04 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

she had done whispering, the stillness was intense. 
The breeze seemed awe-struck and had ceased to 
breathe. In our thoughts we followed her triumphal 
progress to the very gates of her new abode, and 
when the stern command was heard from the deck 
of "Square the yards," it came to our understand- 
ings so abrupt and suddenly, that it impressed us as 
a voice from a lower world, calling us back from 
spiritual wanderings — Jane was dead ! 

It is little matter how we buried her the next day 
in the still ocean, while every member of our ship's 
company stood by, and some rough faces were wet 
with tears to which they were little used, as I read 
aloud the burial service ; how bright and serene was 
the day, without a cloud in the clear depths of the 
sky, or a ripple on the sea; or how the waters 
closed so tranquilly about her, that had never em- 
braced a pearl more precious, and how one stood 
there, and would have given his life for the tears 
which could not flow, and had sought till now in vain 
for the meaning of this blow, which had nearly 
crushed him too. 

But that evening, when the pleasant trade wind 
had reached us, and, with the aid of all her canvass, 
the brig was going steadily at a brisk rate through 
the water, and all that remained in this world of 
what was once Jane, was then down in the deep 
sea, miles behind us, as I went down into the cabin 
for a moment, I iuvoluntarily became the witness of 
a scene which I may be pardoned for alluding to. 

The door of the stateroom which she had lately 
occupied was open, and looking in, I saw Tom with 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 55 

his face buried in the pillow so often pressed by her. 
His whole frame shook with agitation, the fountain 
of his tears was at length unloosed, and he wept 
like a child. I, who had seen him so often in his 
careless merry moods, could not but pause to look 
once upon him in his heart-breaking sorrow. In a 
moment he raised his head, and folded his hands 
together, looking upward. My own tears gathered 
fast, as I gazed upon his face so full of earnest 
suppliance, But when he spoke I was chained to 
the spot, for it seemed as if he saw his Maker bend- 
ing over him to hear and answer. He thanked God 
first for his great goodness in having given to him, 
for a companion in his youth, a spirit so pure and 
lovely, and besought strength to feel always that 
she was now in her proper sphere, among the 
happiest on high. And it seemed to me that his 
terrible bereavement had not been fruitless, when he 
prayed, oh, how earnestly, that she, who was now 
a happy angel, might still be permitted to watch 
over and to guide him as before ; and that wherever 
he might be in all his mortal existence, the recollec- 
tion of what she was on earth, and the conscious- 
ness he felt of her position in heaven, might be 
ever with him in all temptation, and keep him from 
every thing that could make him unworthy of their 
final reunion. It was the outpouring of a soul, that 
had for the first time, with the strange gift vouch- 
safed to mortal sorrow, looked deep into the possi- 
bilities of his being, and thrown his hope upon Him 
who is not unmindful of the raven's cry. 

I crept back to the deck again. It was a clear 



56 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

beautiful night. "See," said my wife, as I took a 
seat beside her on the companion-way, " what a 
multitude of stars, and how bright. A foolish fancy 
just came over me, suggested probably by a song of 
my childhood, that they were angel's eyes glittering 
with delight, in welcome to a kindred spirit." 



CHAPTER VIII. 



M0GAD0RE. 



After the melancholy events recorded in the last 
chapter, nothing further occurred during our out- 
ward passage, worthy of special notice. Our enter- 
prise had assumed a new and sublime importance in 
our eyes, for a sacrifice had been made upon its 
altar, of all that was most prized and lovely in our 
possession. There was no longer in our minds a 
possibility of failure. If the whole earth had risen 
up in battle against us, there was one in heaven 
who would pray still for our success, and if the 
spirits in that freed and limitless abode, have any 
sympathy with heroism and deeds valiant in unself- 
ishness, were we not sure of the silent breathings of 
their aid ? 

The natural elasticity of Tom's temperament had 
overcome in a degree his first terrible depression, 
and at times he was, to a superficial eye, as light- 
some and fanciful as ever. 

The morning of our thirty-seventh day at sea was 
decidedly a pleasant one. I was awakened at an 
early hour by a cry of "Land ho!" and was not 
long in presenting myself on the quarter-deck. 



58 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

"The coast of Morocco," observed the captain, 
pointing to a long low dark slip of ground clearly- 
defined against the water's edge, behind which some 
hazy looking mountains towered heavily to the sky. 
The first rays of the sun were just peeping over 
these far off hills, which I knew to be some of the 
ridges of world-famed Atlas. I was in advance of 
the rest of our party, and had a moment's leisure to 
look about me. 

How small and frail seemed our vessel, compared 
with the immensity of the ocean we had sailed over, 
and the vast, unknown, and dusky greatness of the 
continent before us. I could not help remarking 
with a feeling akin to surprise, that the day's work 
was going on as usual. The men had just finished 
washing decks, and with their coarse brooms were 
brushing the stray drops towards the scuppers, very 
unconcernedly. Bill Smith was at the wheel, where 
it seemed to me he had been stationed during at 
least three quarters of the passage, probably be- 
cause I had always noticed him when there, looking 
round as usual, but oftener seaward than landward, 
also very unconcernedly. 

The sun was now bursting out in glorious reful- 
gence from a gorgeous mass of clouds hanging about 
those eastern hills, enveloping his radiance as with 
voluptuous drapery. Overhead,- a more beautiful, 
unsullied blue was never seen, even in the far 
spiritual depths of a maiden's eye, than then shone 
lovingly upon us. The grosser element that spar- 
kled beneath and around, and rippled so carelessly 
against our vessel's side, had lost all its stern and 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 59 

dread magnificence, all its silent, solitary grandeur, 
for there was its compeer, the dark green shore re- 
posing tranquilly at its side. There it lay as it had 
done since the flood, saying evermore to the waters — 
"Thus far shalt thou come and no farther." 

"Ah, the ebony coast," observed Tom, appearing 
suddenly from the companion-way, and looking 
from the shadow of his hand towards the shore. 
"Little Tom was alway fond of niggers, and he 
won't see any body else probably, for some time to 
come." 

The Major next appeared, accompanied by the 
ladies and children, and looking out on the wrong 
side of the vessel, where of course there was nothing 
to be seen but water and clouds, observed fiercely 
that it was "Morocco sure enough." 

"If you are looking for land," suggested Tom 
correctively, " you will be more successful in your 
glance on the other side of the ship." 

The wind was westerly, and we fanned along the 
coast, growing every moment more distinct and 
landlike as the sun rose and we drew near. 

Early in the forenoon we entered through the 
northern passage between the island, which makes 
a natural breakwater, and the main land, and an- 
chored in the harbor of Mogadore. 

What a strange sensation is that which one expe- 
riences just previous to landing in a strange country. 
There is a feeling of timorous uncertainty as to what 
may be our reception, and whether on the whole, we 
shall come away unharmed, which mingles with and 
checks our feelings of curiosity, and does much to 



60 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

modify our pleasant anticipations. It is something 
similar to that the boy feels on leaving school. His 
merry sports, his youthful friendships, his little tem- 
porary troubles which gave to these the greater zest, 
are all over, and he stands face to face with the real- 
ities of a hard world. The mantle of romance which 
his boyish imagination had thrown over this untried 
scene is withdrawn, and he sees, for the first time, 
the dangers, sorrows, and misfortunes with which it 
fairly teems. He wonders if the world needs him, 
and is ready to receive him, and if he on his part is 
ready for the world. The dingy old school-room, 
where the hours lagged so wearily, is now his gar- 
den of Eden, and Time, the remorseless power which 
has driven him out. But to go back, would be as im- 
possible as if a sword of fire literally waved over the 
threshold. His great satisfaction is that he has 
improved his time of preparation, and fortified him- 
self to the utmost for the conflict which he cannot 
avoid. There is another time when this same emo- 
tion will be felt with a more sublime effect, when 
the objects that we love are growing faint and dim ; 

" When unto dying eyes — 
Slowly the casement grows a glimmering square ; " 

and the tremendous truth comes home that in a few 
more moments, all the glorious mysteries of the 
unknown world will be revealed to us face to face; 
and the awfully thrilling question asked, which, if 
we can answer to our inward satisfaction, is better 
than every thing else — "Oh man, what hast thou 
done in thy long years of life?" 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 61 

After dinner we sat on the quarter-deck in expec- 
tation of some boat from the shore. The city with 
its white-washed walls, and its numerous mosques 
towering above them, made a pleasant appearance 
from the water. The angle towards us seemed to 
be a sort of battery, on which several pieces were 
mounted. The island in our rear was also well 
fortified. There were no other square-rigged vessels 
in the harbor, but several fore and aft schooners, 
luggers, and other small craft. 

We were conversing in that listless, straggling 
manner, which preoccupation of the mind always 
produces, half sorry at the idea of so soon quitting 
our little craft, half dreading a further acquaintance 
with the silent city before us, as yet unhallowed by a 
single pleasant recollection, unendeared by the pres- 
ence of a single friend, when of a sudden the Major 
exclaimed, pointing in a southeasterly direction from 
the city, — 

" There they are ! " 

We all looked in the direction indicated. About 
a quarter of a mile distant from where we lay, there 
was a sandy beach, bordered by a fringe of scrubby 
bushes, beyond which was a gentle rising ground. 
Here was a large inclosure, of which the walls must 
have been some twenty feet high, with a square 
tower at each angle. A train of camels, amounting 
to nearly a hundred I should think, were filing 
round the furthest point, coming to browse on the 
scanty herbage. 

How we all pricked up at the sight. If we had 
been born and bred camel drivers, and shut up or 
6 



62 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

exiled for years, we could not have felt a greater joy 
at being suddenly permitted a sight of our old fa- 
vorites. The country was no longer a strange one. 
Here were individuals with whom we were well 
acquainted. It was evident we had got to the right 
place. Here were the camels at home. We had 
before seen the animal in menageries in our own 
country, sleek, bloated, indolent from excess of fat, 
but how different were these easy loitering gentry, 
the genuine unsophisticated Simons taking their 
afternoon lunch at ease down on the seashore. 

The spyglass was at once put into active service. 
These sad-colored, hump-backed, long-sided animals 
were to our eyes more beautiful than cherubs. The 
ladies were unanimously in favor of taking the 
boat at once and pulling over to the beach where 
the camels were grazing, that we might see the 
" pretty creatures" nearer; but this proposition was 
declined as not being very safe to carry out. 

At about two o'clock a boat came off from the 
city. It was manned by a Moor who steered, and 
four Ethiopian oarsmen. In the stern sheets were 
two other Moors. They all wore the white turban, 
and blue or red blankets or haiks. The two Moors 
not belonging to the boat's crew came on board. 
One of them proved to be an interpreter, and intro- 
duced the other as a revenue officer. He also re- 
quested us to go on shore, without delay, as the 
bashaw or local governor desired to see us and know 
our business. 

We accordingly dressed ourselves for the occasion. 
The major became formidable in a complete suit of 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 63 

ranger regimentals, Tom elegant as a private "citizen 
of credit and renown;" while 1 attired myself in a 
costume which had formerly served me on state occa- 
sions when consul at in South America. A con- 
sultation with the interpreter resulted in favor of our 
families going with us. The captain took the ship pa- 
pers, and we our several passports and commissions, 
not forgetting, of course, our grand official letter to 
the emperor from the American secretary of state. 

The two boats pushed off at about the same time. 
Bill Smith, who was one of our oarsmen, made an 
ineffectual effort to get some information out of the 
black oarsmen of the rival boat, as to what fun was 
going on ashore. Our captain, too, proved himself a 
genuine Yankee, by putting to the interpreter the 
stereotyped question of Yankee captains just landing 
in a foreign country, " Whether he knew any good 
place in town where he could get washing done." 

An interpreter, like a physician, should either be 
trusted implicitly or discarded altogether. Ours had 
very coolly taken possession of us, and we seemed 
governed by his directions. Yet I was not quite 
satisfied with him. He was an active little fellow, 
with a not unhandsome face, but he had a habit of 
watching you as if prying for secrets, which I did 
not like. In his turn he did not seem to relish being 
scrutinized, but let his eyes fall whenever they en- 
countered mine. I mentioned the result of my ob- 
servations to my wife, who had remarked the same 
propensities. " He seems to me," said she, " like a 
mixture of a negro and an Irishman, and I don't 
like either." His name was favorable to this under- 
standing of him. It was Yolo Snazem. 



CHAPTER IX. 



ALMOST A ROW. 



We landed at the great gate opening into the for- 
tress from the water side. There was a large crowd 
assembled to see us land, composed of Moors, Jews, 
and Ethiopians, a motley group. 

We passed directly through the outer town or 
fortress, and entered the main city by a second mas- 
sive gateway. These gates, we were told, were 
closed at eight o'clock in the evening, and we must 
be out previously if we did not wish to remain in 
the city all night. 

I was agreeably disappointed in the first appear- 
ance of things inside the walls. The city had a 
much newer and cleaner look than I expected. The 
streets are strait, but narrow. The buildings are 
erected, mostly, in the old Spanish style, and of two, 
and in some cases three stories. They are built of 
stone and plaster, which gives them a substantial as- 
pect, and are for the most part kept clean and bright 
with whitewash. The mosques are, some of them, 
splendid specimens of architecture, and their high 
minarets with flat roofs, and a balustrade running 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 65 

round them where the priests officiate in lieu of bells, 
calling the inhabitants " to prayer," render them ex- 
ceedingly imposing. The square where the market 
is held, was quite a gay spot, surrounded by small 
Jew shops or stalls, where every kind of desirable 
comfort or luxury was exposed for sale. 

The streets were full of people — Jews, Moors, 
Ethiopians, and here and there a lean, long-limbed, 
swarthy Arab of the desert, half naked, glancing 
furtively from side to side, and shrinking away from 
the too close proximity of the strong shut-up houses, 
as if he felt a restraint upon his limbs in those nar- 
row streets, and already longed again for the bound- 
less sweep of his sultry sands. There was a plenty 
of old women and children who cheered after us as 
we passed, but we saw no young women, unless, 
indeed, those fat waddling creatures were they, 
whom we noticed entering the paved court-yard of 
the mosques, and drawing aside as we passed a little 
more of the drapery which enveloped their faces, 
than was usual or necessary for the performance of 
the habitual ablution before prayers. 

Animals of all sorts were passing to and fro in the 
streets. There were camels and splendid Arab 
steeds, asses, mules, and oxen, some with riders, 
others coming in from the different gateways, lead- 
ing to the country, laden with jars and skins of 
water, and packs of fruits and vegetables, and others 
going back empty. We saw nothing of the gloom 
usually attributed to Moorish cities, and little of the 
dilapidation spoken of as their characteristic feature. 
Neither did we observe in the countenances of the 
6* 



66 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

people any signs of the cruelty, treachery, and in- 
hospitality we had been led to expect. In the bright 
sunshine of that pleasant afternoon the place was 
certainly as gay, and the people seemed as cheerful 
and happy, as is customary in freer and better lands. 

We found the town residence of the governor shut 
out from the rest of the place by walls, similar to 
those inclosing the city. We entered a paved court, 
kept scrupulously clean, and were directed to one of 
the many small buildings, of two stories in height, 
which dotted the inclosure. There were several 
fountains playing in the yard, and numerous flower- 
pots containing plants of rare beauty and worth, 
were placed just within reach of the falling drops. 
A few tamarind trees were the only other sign of 
vegetation visible. This was the business office of 
the governor, and the several buildings were the 
offices of his secretaries and other local authorities. 

We passed through a stuccoed archway, into a 
paved hall ; here were attendants who beckoned us 
up a broad flight of stone steps, and who also beck- 
oned our interpreter, who was leading the way, to 
remain where he was, a proceeding I was by no 
means sorry to behold. Arriving at the head of the 
staircase, we were received by other attendants in 
the red cap of the government uniform, who led us 
through a short, wide passage to the doors opening 
into the governor's office. One of these preceded us 
into the room, and leading us up to the governor, 
who was seated at the farther end, introduced us as 
the American party. Mats of exquisite fineness 
were produced, and we were politely motioned by 
the bashaw to be seated. 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 67 

The apartment in which we found ourselves was 
of an oblong shape, and singularly plain and devoid 
of furniture. The only article which we should class 
under that head being a long, mahogany table, with 
a dark marble top, covered with books and papers, 
and two mahogany lounges, with scarlet velvet trim- 
mings on either side. The walls were decorated with 
paintings, representing battles and feats of horseman- 
ship. The great distinguishing feature of the room 
was mats, which were the most beautiful and bril- 
liant I have ever seen. The bashaw himself was 
seated on a superb one of crimson and gold, with a 
cushion at his side of the same materials, on which 
he reclined his arm when writing. His dress was a 
buff-colored haick, with a close-fitting scarlet jacket, 
embroidered with gold, inside. A small writing-desk 
was placed on the floor beside him. There was but 
one attendant with him when we entered, who was 
probably a menial, and remained standing. 

The bashaw was a man of venerable age, rather 
under the common size, very dark, but with regular 
features, an intelligent eye, and a remarkably be- 
nevolent expression. His reception of us put us at 
ease at once. Seeing that we made an awkward 
affair of squatting on the mats, he politely requested 
us to remain standing, if we preferred it, or to sit in 
such posture as was most comfortable to us. 

The major then presented our letter from the 
American secretary. He read it with attention, and 
laying it down beside him with the remark, that it 
was worthy of serious consideration, inquired if we 
had passports. The major produced his Texas 



68 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

Ranger commission ; Tom, who was deficient in this 
respect, slipped his hand slyly round to the cap- 
tain's pocket, and pulled out the ship's register; the 
captain luckily had also his crew list, with his own 
name at the head, and I was provided with my old 
consular commission. These papers were quite sat- 
isfactory, though I thought I detected rather a know- 
ing look in the old bashaw, as his eye glanced at 
them, and Tom bowed in acknowledgment of the 
name of Mr. Double Eagle. 

The major inquired what would be the probable 
effect of our prayer for permission to export camels 
from the empire. 

"It is difficult for me at present," answered the 
governor, ''to pass an opinion; I think well of the 
enterprise, however. Indeed, I have often wondered 
that a nation like yours, making so extensive a use of 
the horse, mule, and ox, should not have availed itself 
of the aid of the camel in long and perilous routes." 

"It has been doubted," observed the major, 
"whether they would thrive on our soil and cli- 
mate." 

"The camel is an animal adapted to every soil 
and every climate. Indeed, we have within the do- 
minions of the emperor, all grades of climate, and 
every species of soil, and in no one part can the camel 
be said to thrive better than in another. But he is 
our wealth, an important portion of our population. 
Liberal as is Muley Abderrhaman in his commercial 
ideas, I am strongly inclined to doubt whether he will 
consent to the introduction of a business which may 
eventually cripple our internal commerce, and make 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 69 

us more dependent on outside communication than 
we have hitherto been. The emperor, however, is 
fond of money-making. That portion of your letter 
which alludes to the lucrative advantages to be de- 
rived by this empire in the course of the traffic, may 
not be without its effect. The document shall be 
sent to Morocco without delay, and a speedy action 
prayed for. It may, however, be weeks, even months, 
before we have a final decision. In the meantime 
have patience, for I will do what I can." 

He then questioned us somewhat of the affairs of 
our country, and particularly of California, in which 
state he seemed to take a particular interest. Before 
dismissing us he gave to each one a bow of scarlet 
ribbon to be worn on the cap or bonnet, which would 
be a sign to his subjects that we were in his favor, 
and any harm done to us would be visited by his 
especial displeasure. 

" These ladies," said he, bowing with an air of 
gallantry that would have done no discredit to an 
European prince, while he handed the ribbons to our 
wives, "must be careful to veil their beautiful faces, 
if they would avoid coming to harm." 

Having put a private mark upon our papers, he 
handed them back to us, and we were again in- 
trusted to the charge of the attendant who had intro- 
duced us. 

On descending to the hall we found a table spread 
with milk, bread and fruits, which attention, we 
were told, was a mark of respect and affection on 
the part of the bashaw. We partook of these re- 
freshments, and then sallied forth again into the 
street, highly pleased with our visit. 



70' THE CAMEL HUNT. 

We strolled along, making our observations on the 
place and people, till we came to the eastern gate, 
leading out into the plain. The prospect beyond 
was solemn and dreary. A vast ocean of sand lay 
stretched before us to the horizon, ruffled in some 
places into small hillocks, like waves, but generally 
smooth as a summer's sea. A few parties of horse- 
men and camels were visible, looking like dark, fly- 
ing dots on this broad field. 

We visited two or three of the vegetable gardens, 
which abound in the suburbs of the town, examin- 
ing the great varieties of produce there growing. At 
one of these a young Moor came in on a heirie 
or swift running camel. The animal had evidently 
been hard pushed, for it lay down immediately on 
coming in, panting heavily. The young man took 
a goat-skin from his saddle, which he said contained 
oranges from Morocco. He informed our interpreter, 
in answer to his inquiries, that his cousin was sick 
in the house, and that the evening previous she had 
asked for oranges. There were none to be had in 
Mogadore, and he had saddled his heirie, the fastest 
beast in the city, as he said, and gone to Morocco to 
procure them, in proof of which he unfastened his 
sack, gave us a handful, and then hurried into the 
house. I half suspected, from his zeal in answering 
his cousin's wishes, that she sustained a still more 
tender relation to him than that of cousin. 

From Mogadore to Morocco and back, within the 
space of twenty-four hours, was certainly great 
travelling. However, as the young man made no 
boast of the achievement, and as our interpreter 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 71 

appeared to believe the statement, we accepted it as 
another wonderful instance of the fleetness and 
power of endurance of the running camel. On 
such an animal as that same heirie, I have no 
hesitation in saying that a person familiar with 
camel riding, could go from Independence to San 
Francisco in twenty days. 

The loose sand beneath our feet made walking 
extremely painful to us, who had so long been 
unaccustomed to any exercise, so we turned back 
and entered the gates just as the sun was setting. 

As we were hurrying through the streets, filled 
with people answering the call "to prayers," which 
now rang out clear and distinct above all the bustle 
of the town, from a score or more of sentry-like mina- 
rets, anxious to reach the water side before dark, our 
progress was suddenly interrupted by a crowd of 
people gathered before a house of rather more than 
ordinary pretensions. There were some four or five 
persons seated on mats in and about the arched 
door-way. The rest were standing or squatting 
outside. The principal actor in the group seemed to 
be an old Jew, who stood in the midst of the latter 
class, and had apparently been wronged out of 
something, for he was wringing his hands and 
moaning piteously. 

"Oh, I am ruin, I am ruin, he hash taken mine 
all, and I am a ruin man — oh dear, what shall I do, 
what shall I do?" 

At this juncture some four or five camels were 
seen approaching, at a furious rate, from the oppo- 
site part of the town. They were riden bare-backed, 



72 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

and the riders were Bill Smith and the rest of our 
boatmen. They came on, holding fast to the long 
hair on the hump, shouting and waving long sticks 
of the cactus over their heads, which had served 
them as spurs in their crazy tramp. It was easy to 
see that they had been drinking. 

" Hulloa," said Bill, dropping off of his camel 
and mixing with the crowd, "here's fun ; boys, come 
on!" 

The Jew continued to wring his hands and 
repeated his complaints. 

"Never mind the blubbering, old Shylock," said 
Bill, "we'll see you righted. What's gone, old 
fellow?" 

"A peautiful gold vatch and chain," said the 
Jew, "in a rich diamond case." 

"And who's got it?" asked Bill. 

The Jew pointed to a bluff, stupid looking Ethi- 
opian, who sat very coolly in the door-way smoking 
and drinking tea. He was attired in the costume 
of a Talb or priest, and wore about his neck the 
identical gold watch and chain which the Jew had 
lost. 

"And is there no justice in Mogadore," inquired 
Bill, assuming a consequential air, "to force the 
black scoundrel to restore his stolen property?" 

" Tere ish none for mine peoples," answered the 
Jew. 

"Then," said the sailor, approaching the Ethio- 
pian, who maintained the same indifferent aspect, 
"Judge Bill Smith will see that restitution is made 
forthwith ; come, old padre, hand over the plunder, 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 73 

or I'll put daylight through your black timbers in 
less than no time ! " 

As the learned man continued to smoke tran- 
quilly, and took no notice of the soi-disant judge, 
Bill removed the watch and chain from his person, 
and handed it over to the Jew, who trembled, on 
receiving it, more than ever. 

Bill, then, flourishing his cactus club over his head, 
called out, " Make a ring, come on, padre," and 
placed himself in fighting attitude. 

But it seemed that Bill and the padre were not 
likely to have it all their own way, for as soon as 
the horror, which took possession of the crowd, on 
beholding the person of a Talb violated in this 
unceremonious manner, had somewhat subsided, a 
score of cimeters flashed before us, and the major, 
Tom, and I, were obliged, in self-defence, to handle 
our revolvers, while our sailors flourished their 
cactus sticks about like madmen, in expectation of 
fun. 

"The first man that dares to strike, plug him in 
the right shoulder," sung out the major; "we've got 
charges enough to cripple 'em all." 

No blood was spilt, however, for to our great 
astonishment, just as the skirmish was about to 
commence, the Jew walked up to where the Ethio- 
pian was setting, and in the most cringing, fawning 
manner, invested his person again with the watch 
and chain. 

" Fight your own battles in future," muttered the 
major, striding off majestically with his little wife 
7 



74 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

under his arm, not a little chagrined at the turn 
matters had taken. 

The man Bill shook the poor old Jew till I 
thought he would shake him into his boots, and 
then, shaking his fist to the Ethiopian, with the 
air of a man who was a little uncertain as to which 
side he was fighting on, followed us with the other 
sailors, all five singing and shouting like demons. 

We were pretty well tired with the day's adven- 
tures, and lost no time in getting to the boat. When 
we reached her, and were fairly seated, it was quite 
dark. 

We were on the point of pushing off, when we 
heard a voice calling us to stop. It proved to be the 
old Jew, who had followed us to apologize and 
explain his conduct. 

"Shentlemens," said he, holding himself steady 
by the rail of the boat, " it vash veil meant, it vash 
veil meant, shentlemens, you ish noble shentlemens, 
to take te part of te despised old Jew, but vat mosht 
be, mosht, you knows, shentlemens, tat te man vith 
my vatch and chain ish a religious man, and mosht 
have his own vay in all tings. 

■" Shentlemens, I have von daughter, von only 
daughter; shentlemens, you do not know mine 
daughter, Ruth, how peautiful she ish, and how 
pure and precious in mine eyes; shentlemens, this 
peastly negro hash cast hish eyes upon mine daugh- 
ter, and vould take her to hish own house — ugh. 

"Shentlemens, you understand me now, I carried 
the vatch to excite his cupidity, knowing that he 
vould shteal it, as I vould throw a piece of meat to 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 75 

a tiger who vash coming to devours me. Veil, he 
shtole the vatch, and I have proof, but if he comes 
to shteal mine daughter, he vill take care that I shall 
not have proof. But if he triesh I shall show to the 
bashaw, who ish a good man, that he hash taken 
mine vatch, and he vill believe that he vash going to 
take mine daughter. 

" Shentlemens, you ish noble shentlemens, vat 
you have done vash veil meant. To-morrow, if you 
vill pleash, you shall come to mine house in te 
millah, and mine daughter shall shing you te shongs 
of mine peoples." 

Here was a chapter for you on the beauties of 
avarice ! That decrepid old man, whose form was 
growing fainter and fainter in the darkness, till it 
finally mingled itself with the black shadow of the 
rock beneath which he cringed, as we looked back 
upon him from our boat, had left the home of his 
nativity in early youth; throughout his long life 
had been a wanderer, submitting to every species of 
insult and injury, and in his feeble old age had 
subjected his daughter, who was perchance beautiful 
as the morning, and, at any rate, was to him as the 
apple of his eye, to the possibility of indignities, for 
which the pen has no name, and to a worse than 
life in death, in the sensual society of a filthy negro 
— and all for what — money. 



CHAPTER X. 



A JOURNEY ON CAMELS. 



The next day we called upon the Jew at his 
house, in the millah or Jews' town, which is a 
separate inclosure within the main walls, having 
gates which are opened and shut in conformity with 
the regulations of the principal town. 

The internal appearance of his house showed no 
signs of that ruin, which the Jew announced the 
day previous as having fallen upon him. It was 
filled with every comfort and luxury which could 
add grace or richness to the view, and there was 
visible in evecy arrangement a certain elegance and 
good taste, which bespoke, plainly enough, the 
presence of gentle woman. 

And here Ruth, the Jew's daughter, came and 
sang to us the songs of her people. Here she sang, 
the frail, beautiful daughter of a generation once the 
favorite of heaven, accompanied by the music of the 
harp ; such grand old melodies, deep toned and 
solemn, as carried our souls back to those simple, 
sublime and patriarchal days, when her long buried 
ancestry walked the earth and held converse with the 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 77 

Lord. And at times she sang a wild, lawless, rest- 
less, plaintive air, the most mournful and heart- 
breaking I ever heard, and in it was the stor}^ of her 
people's homelessness — their wrongs — their sor- 
rows—but no word of hope. It was like the out- 
bursting of a soul that remembered the heaven it had 
lost, but had no desire even left to revisit it. A few 
days after, on the desert at night, when we were 
encamped far from human habitation, I heard a 
sound which impressed me similarly. A solitary 
Arab passed our tent, urging his swift hierie to the 
utmost, and as he rushed by and disappeared in the 
trackless waste, he sent forth a howl that seemed to 
come from the very depths of a lost spirit. All the 
next day his image haunted me, hurrying purpose- 
less and despairingly over the vast nothingness of 
the desert; and when darkness covered the earth, 
finding no confidant of his remorseful outbreaks but 
the night wind. 

We visited the Jew's house frequently during our 
stay at Mogadore, but could never engage his 
daughter in conversation. When pressed to con- 
verse, she would rise abruptly and leave the room. 
All her life and energies were bound up in music, 
and all her songs were of her people. It seemed as 
if the early greatness of her race, their subsequent 
misfortunes and injuries, and their final social out- 
lawry, had come down on the wind from periods 
long passed, and she was the iEolian harp through 
which they floated in majestic or mournful melodies. 

We had been in Mogadore some few days when, 
one morning Mr. Yolo Snazen], our interpreter, came 
7* 



78 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

off with more than usual meaning in his counte- 
nance. He informed us that a small caravan of fifty 
camels was to leave on the morrow for Wed-noon, 
the residence of an American gentleman by the name 
of Vinal, of whom we had heard a good deal since 
our arrival. This gentleman had a splendid town 
establishment in Mogadore, but seldom resided there, 
being, as we understood, an eccentric individual, 
Avflo preferred his place at Wed-noon, where he was 
a kind of prince, and often made excursions far into 
the desert with the wandering Arab tribes, or cruised 
about the coast, or to the Canaries and Cape de 
Verde islands, in his fast sailing yacht. 

We also learned from our interpreter that this 
same Mr. Vinal was a large landed proprietor at 
Wed-noon, that he owned whole caravans of camels, 
and that he had great influence over the wandering 
tribes who came there occasionally for supplies. As 
he never gave us any personal description of him, 
and always mentioned his name with the profound- 
est respect, I figured him to myself as a venerable 
man, who was spending the last remnant of his days 
in this self exile, hoping, perhaps, to do something to 
atone for early errors, or to wipe away the too bitter 
recollection of some crime of his manhood. I 
thought it probable that he was a man of science, 
and had exhibited certain feats of skill in presence of 
these roving Arabs, which had won their admiration 
and esteem. 

Our interpreter had often suggested to us a journey 
to Wed-noon, for the purpose of consulting with this 
gentleman relative to the best plan to be pursued in 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 79 

the furtherance of our voyage. He had given us to 
understand, that if Mr. Vinal should be favorably 
disposed towards our enterprise, there was nothing 
to prevent its immediate fulfilment; that Wed-noon 
was out of the dominions of the emperor, and Vinal 
could do there as he thought fit in all respects; that 
the place possessed an excellent harbor, and that the 
camels could be embarked there as easily as at Mog- 
adore. On the other hand, he urged that it was 
uncertain what would be the final decision of the 
emperor, in our case, and that, at all events, we 
would be delayed a long time in waiting for it. He 
said we could make it appear to the bashaw that we 
were going on a pleasure excursion down the coast, 
and would let the brig follow us along shore, so that 
in the event of our finding camel-riding too hard for 
us, we should have the means of returning by water. 

We assented to his views, with the exception of 
the characteristic piece of deception recommended at 
the close, which of course we utterly repudiated, and 
decided to start the next morning, taking advantage 
of the convoy which he had recommended. Besides 
the possibility of his suggestion resulting favorably, 
we were desirous of seeing the country a little in the 
interior, of having a ride on camels, and of becoming 
further acquainted with the eccentric and mysterious 
Mr. Vinal, of whom we had heard so much. 

The cook was ordered to boil a quantity of beef, 
which, we were told, was considered by the de- 
vidjis, or camel drivers, as a luxury. This, with 
two bags containing sea-biscuit, was all the prepara- 
tion which we thought absolutely necessary to make 



80 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

in the way of provisions, trusting to our companions 
to furnish us with such other articles of food as the 
country might afford. After dinner we visited* the 
bashaw, acquainting him with our determination of 
visiting Mr. Vinal at Wed-noon, which he seemed to 
think well of, but respectfully submitted it as his 
opinion that we should have to return to Mogadore 
to embark our camels, adding with a smile, that we 
would soon be able to judge for ourselves of the 
facilities of Wed-noon as a seaport. 

As soon as the gates were opened next morning, 
our interpreter came off and informed us that the 
camels were saddled and packed, and the train 
awaiting us at a well just outside of the city. It 
was probably a vague recollection of what I had 
read in boyhood, of shipwrecked mariners and 
Christian travellers being seized by the inhabitants 
of the country we were to pass through, held as 
slaves, and large sums demanded for their ransom, 
that made me decide to take with us the coin we 
had brought for the purchase of the camels. It was 
in doubloons to the amount of five thousand dollars, 
and put up in four wash-leather bags. These bags 
I put into a pair of saddle-bags, the key of which I 
kept in my pocket, and resolved not to lose sight or 
feeling of them during the journey. At the earnest 
request of the women, who, from seeing the prowess 
of our captain on shipboard had evidently acquired, 
a sort of floating idea, that he was invincible under 
all circumstances, "Uncle Jim" was induced, some- 
what against his own wishes, to accompany us, 
leaving the brig to be taken around to Wed-noon by 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 81 

the mate. Our luggage was soon ready and we set 
off. 

At a little distance from the south gate we found 
the train awaiting us at a well, as Yolo Snazem had 
stated. It was now about eleven o'clock, and a fine 
clear beautiful morning, rather warm to be sure, but 
not oppressive. The gateway was crowded with 
camels, horses, asses, and oxen, as we passed 
through, and the plain outside in the immediate 
vicinity of the town, was fairly alive with these an- 
imals and their riders and attendants. It resembled 
very much the thronged entrance to the harbor of a 
great commercial city, and was not unlike it in 
reality; for these animals were the ships of that 
country, and some of them coming from the Arab 
douars of the desert, or the Berber fortresses in the 
mountains, bore a freight of ostrich feathers, gold 
dust, ivory, and leopard skins, equal in value to the 
cargo of many a gallant argosy. On this part of the 
plain were fragments of ruined walls or monuments, 
erected, doubtless, in honor of some Mohammedan 
saints, giving a certain character to a scenery which 
otherwise, without the presence of animal life, would 
have been dull and desolate enough. 

The well at which our camels had watered, and 
in the neighborhood of which they were now graz- 
ing, was rather a cistern than a well. It was some 
twenty-five feet in length, and eight to ten in width, 
sunk perhaps five feet into the sand, and stoned and 
plastered within. Over it, rising about six feet, was 
a flat roof, covered with reeds and mud smoothly 
plastered, and supported by stout poles. On this 



82 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

roof and on the sand beneath were stretched the 
forms of our future travelling companions, all except 
one who appeared to be a sentinel, sound asleep. 
The scene reminded me of a passage in Byron's 
dream, only the boy was wanting : 

" * * * in the last he lay, 
Reposing from the noontide sultriness, 
Couched among fallen columns, in the shade 
Of ruined walls that had survived the names 
Of those who reared them ; by his sleeping side 
Stood camels grazing, and some goodly steeds 
Were fastened near a fountain, and a man 
Clad in a flowing garb did watch the while, 
While many of his tribe slumbered around ; 
And they were canopied by the blue sky 
So cloudless, clear, and purely beautiful, 
That God alone was to be seen in heaven." 

Our arrival was the signal for arousing the sleep- 
ers, who at once proceeded to get their camels in 
order for a start. Our interpreter pointed ours out 
to us, with the remark that they were easy-going 
beasts, and he had no doubt that we should enjoy 
the ride finely. They were four in number, saddled 
with the ungainly Moorish appliances which, if they 
are as uncomfortable to the animal as to the rider, 
afford the best evidence yet of his patience and 
long suffering. I shall not attempt, by a minute de- 
scription, to convey to the indulgent reader an idea of 
the physique of these abominable contrivances, for 
although I might be successful in this, I am certain 
that an idea of their morale could not be conveyed 
in words. They were, however, firmly fastened 
with girths and cruppers, and their white cotton 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 83 

awning falling over the extremity of the poles, to 
which the camel's hide, forming the seat of this 
kind of saddle, is attached, gave them rather an in- 
viting appearance from the outside. This awning 
is stretched on stout twigs rising from the extremi- 
ties of the saddle or basket platform, and meeting in 
the centre at a height of about four feet. Our plat- 
forms might have been four feet square; rather snug 
accommodations, one would think, for two grown 
people. But two of our camels were to carry three 
each, no extra provision having been made for our 
two children. Any complaints, however, that we 
might had in contemplation, were nipped in the bud 
by Mr. Snazem, who told us that these saddles were 
the latest improvement, and decidedly superior to 
any thing before known in the country. The driver, 
by this "late improvement," had a kind of box seat 
in front of the hump, where he sat with his legs 
crossed, resting his feet on the camel's neck. 

The devidjis came to assist and packed our lug- 
gage snugly, I taking care to have the money-bags 
stowed within reach of my legs, that I might occa- 
sionally satisfy myself as to their whereabouts. We 
then entered our tents, rather than vaulted into 
our saddles, and at a kind of cluck from one of the 
drivers, our well-trained animals rose steadily and 
quietly, placing us at a height of nearly nine feet 
from the ground. At another cluck, they proceeded 
with a long swimming stride, on their sandy track. 
We drew back our awnings and looked from one to 
another, in delight, for we were in great spirits. 

We were travelling in Indian file. The camel di- 



84 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

rectly in front of the one occupied by my wife, little 
Warren, and I, was ridden by Captain Wilson, Tom, 
and young Tom. The next one behind us bore the 
major and his wife. In the rear was a gaunt, bony, 
high-actioned camel, freighted with the two Irish 
girls, who soon gave evidence of the comfortable 
qualities of their animal and appliances, by mani- 
festing symptoms similar to those attending sea- 
sickness. 

We went on our way, keeping near the beach, 
passing on our right, at the distance of about a couple 
of miles from the city, a plastered stone wall, with a 
front of over two hundred feet, back of which were 
four distinct roofs covered with green tile, gently 
sloping upward to a point in the centre. Our inter- 
preter informed us that this place belonged to Muley 
Abderrhaman, emperor of Morocco, and was his resi- 
dence during his occasional visits to the seaboard. 

We shortly after came into a forest of argan trees, 
loaded with their yellow fruit. In the midst of this 
wilderness, we sometimes passed an inclosure of 
thorn bushes, within which we heard the bark 
of the African dog, but saw no person. We again 
crossed a short barren strip of sand with a few hil- 
locks, visible in the distance on the seaward side of 
us ; and passing next the dry bed of a river, we 
came upon a mountainous country, which promised 
views more varied and romantic than we had yet 
seen. After going through a narrow passage in the 
nearest hill, we entered a valley of great beauty; 
on either side of us were towering mountains, and 
at their base were rows of vegetable gardens, with 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 85 

houses thinly scattered amongst them similar to 
those in the vicinity of Mogadore. These were 
abundantly watered by streams from the hill sides, 
and contained many varieties of vegetables in full 
ripeness. On leaving this delightful spot, which 
must have been some five or six miles in length, we 
came again into the region of sand. Here the plain 
extended to the ocean, of which we had a fine view, 
not many miles distant. It was now nearly sun- 
down, and to our great joy our drivers proposed 
encamping for the night. They chose a gently rising 
ground, in the vicinity of which were some bushes 
of the sullen thorn and prickly pear, on which the 
camels browse mostly in these regions, and unpack- 
ing their tents, proceeded to pitch them and make 
arrangements for supper. I was told that we en- 
camped here in preference to remaining in the valley, 
for the purpose of allowing the camels to graze at 
large, which they are prohibited from doing in culti- 
vated tracts. 

We had good reason for being tired, for unused as 
we were to this kind of travelling, we had, never- 
theless, made a distance of about fifty miles since 
we set out. 

While things were being made cosy, we sent into 
the valley for vegetables and chickens, and with 
what we brought with us made a very tolerable sup- 
per. The water, from being carried all day in goat- 
skins, was rather warm, and had a flavor which I did 
not quite like. We had, however, plenty of camels' 
milk, which has not a bad taste and is considered 
highly nutritious. 
8 



86 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 



We retired to rest soon after supper. Separate 
tents had been provided for those of us who had 
families, and wearied as we were with our hard 
day's journey, the coarse mats on which we lay, 
were as grateful to us*as downy beds, and I believe 
that we all slept soundly till morning. 

We were awakened before sunrise by the men 
who went out to milk the camels, which is always 
done late in the evening and early in the morning, 
when the night winds have sufficiently cooled the 
bags. After this operation our companions all came 
forth, and having gone through the motions of 
washing with sand for lack of water, prostrated 
themselves upon the plain with their faces towards 
the east, repeating at the same time passages of the 
Koran. This being done we made a frugal breakfast 
of bread and camels' milk, struck our tents, repacked 
our animals, and were again ready for a start. 

The sand plain where we encamped was bounded 
by a stream of several rods in width, which we 
forded and then began to ascend the mountain 
ridge beyond it. After clambering a rocky, precipi- 
tous ascent to a height of more than twelve hundred 
feet, we came to a level tract of cultivated ground 
nearly a league in extent. Our way down on the 
south side led through a sombre narrow passage in 
the mountains, in many places over loose sharp rocks, 
and had our camels not been remarkably sure-footed, 
I should have trembled more than once at the dis- 
mal and dangerous prospect. In some places we 
travelled on the edge of an abrupt descent of several 
hundred feet, where the path was only of sufficient 
width to admit of one camel passing at a time, and 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 87 

where a false step would have hurled us to destruc- 
tion. The jerking, jolting gait of our animals over 
this uneven ground was very painful. The road, 
however, grew rather worse than better, and we 
continued over this rocky, hilly tract till about eleven 
o'clock in the forenoon, when, to our great relief, we 
entered the walled town of Agadeer. Having ar- 
ranged with our companions to meet again at one 
o'clock at the south gate, we left them and proceeded 
to the house of a friend of our interpreter's, where 
we partook of a generous repast. 

We were not more than half rested when we were 
ordered again into our saddles, being told that it was 
the intention of our party to reach a river some fifty 
miles distant by nightfall. On leaving the town of 
Agadeer, we descended the mountain still further till 
we came to a broad level tract of sand, which ex- 
tended before us as far as the eye could reach. Our 
interpreter informed us that this was an arm of the 
great Zahara. Up to the time of our arrival at Ag- , 
adeer, we had no lack of company. Caravans of 
camels, droves of oxen, asses and sheep, and com- 
panies of horsemen, numbering in some cases several 
hundred, were constantly encountered. We were 
seldom out of sight of houses, gardens, or tents, and 
never but when our view was shut in by the moun- 
tain sides, — but now we saw before us nothing but a 
barren, lifeless sweep, without a tree or plant or sign 
of animal life on the whole of it. Our camels were 
here allowed a few minutes to gather wind and 
browse upon the prickly shrubs growing upon its 
margin, and then, in obedience to a well-known shout 



88 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

of the devidjis, launched forth upon this trackless 
main, and the soil being favorable to fast travelling, 
set out into a brisk jolting trot. 

Ha! the Desert! — the solitary land, the waste 
place of the whole wide earth — Zahara, — type of 
whatever is lonely and desolate, we were on thy broad 
bosom, with thy merciless sands about us. How we 
went floating over thee, huge, swift, shadowy and 
noiseless, like a sad colored cloud that had settled 
earthward, and was borne onward by the wind. 
What to us were the petty things of life, its hopes 
and hungerings, u its weary round of toil and pleas- 
ure," — we were free of them all. The polished 
denizen of towns may turn his back upon thee, and 
prate wisely of thy hardships and dangers, seeing 
no beauty and sublimity in thy majestic face, no 
freedom in thy boundless sweep. And, thou too, 
wild rover of the plains, that mightest teach thy 
defamers a lesson of fearlessness and self-denial, 
and many another simple virtue, let the sluggard 
and the coward writhe and shrink, whenever thy 
shadow falls upon their palsied souls, and level 
at thee the rifle of their abuse, looking only with 
staring eyeballs at thy one great vice as if they 
never planned or plotted how they could best legally 
prey upon each other ! And what, if at times stung 
with a sense of thine own deprivations, and scenting 
from afar the banquet in which thy fellows are in- 
dulging, thine appetite becomes aroused, and thou 
bearest down upon the defenceless, taking from them 
their best and dearest? Comes not thus the eagle 
from his eyrie, and is he not called the noblest of 
birds ? 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 89 

In the course of the afternoon we saw a troop of 
ostriches and several gazelles, all travelling east- 
ward, — animals frequently seen upon the desert, 
where their fleetness enables them to pass from one 
oasis to another. 

About an hour before sundown a wind-squall 
passing over us, and raising a perfect storm of sand, 
gave us an opportunity of beholding the beautiful 
adaptation of the camel to the regions in which he is 
found. Seeing its approach, our drivers drew their 
haicks over their heads, and ordered us to close our 
awnings tightly. The camel on which I was riding 
raised his neck perpendicularly to remove his head 
as far as possible above the flying sand, and letting 
his heavy eyebrows fall over his half-shut eyes, and 
shading his nostrils in a similar manner, kept on 
his way as silently but steadily as in the mildest 
weather. What a soothing reflection, that He who 
sendeth rain alike upon the just and the unjust 
and who gave the faithful mountain dog to the 
crag-leaping Svvitzer, and the swift reindeer to the 
snow-begirt Laplander, gave also the camel to the 
wandering Ishmaelite. 

The squall was soon over. We now passed sev- 
eral large sand drifts, some of them apparently 
twenty feet in height, and a little after sundown, 
reached the river, called in the language of the 
country, El-wad-sta. It was a stream of consider- 
able importance — fifteen or twenty rods in width, 
and composed of delicious water. Here we en- 
camped, having travelled nearly eighty miles since 
morning. A short distance above us was a cluster 



90 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

of Arab tents ; one of our men immediately started 
off in that direction on a kind of exploring expe- 
dition, and returned with a piece of camel's flesh, 
which after being broiled formed no unimportant 
item of our supper. We again retired early and 
slept soundly. 



CHAPTER XI. 

WED-N00N. 

The next morning, after milking the camels, filling 
onr water-bags, and going through their devotions, 
our devidjis gave the signal for another start. 

We left the arm of the desert behind us, and came 
again into a fertile and cultivated country, chequered 
with immense forests of argan trees. It was called 
the land of the Shilluh, an independent race, al- 
though the Emperor of Morocco holds a nominal 
dominion over them. During the day we passed 
several small villages, situated for the most part on 
the banks of inferior streams, some of them making 
pretensions to a mud-wall, which was, however, 
open in spots, and of little use for any purpose of 
protection. Along the banks of these streams were 
gardens, and in some quarters were wide fields of 
barley. Besides the vast tracts of the argan, we 
often encountered the olive, fig, date, pomegranate, 
orange and pal in trees, and saw grazing on all sides, 
large herds of camels, horses, asses, sheep, goats, and 
other horned cattle. In this country there are many 
Jews who keep depots of European merchandise, 



92 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

which they sell for money, or barter away for honey, 
wax, hides, oil, ivory, and dried dates. At one of 
these places we dined. The dog of a Jew had 
French soup, meats and fish, hermetically sealed in 
tin, which, with some dry old port, made us a good 
dinner, and on that occasion we dispensed with salt 
beef and camel's flesh. For the whole day we had 
not lost sight of the ridges of Atlas looming up 
grandly on our left, with the sunshine falling coldly 
on their snow-capped summits. At nightfall we 
pitched our tents again on the frontier of a small 
sand-patch, having made our best day's work yet by 
travelling over ninety miles. 

Notwithstanding our long ride, we were, strange 
as it may seem, not so tired as on the previous even- 
ings. Our road had been smoother, and we had 
learned to accommodate ourselves somewhat to the 
camel's jerking pace. After supper we spread our 
mats outside of the row of tents, and reclining on 
them, lit our cigars, prepared to take a little quiet 
comfort and enjoy the beauty of the scene. The 
small moon was but a little above the horizon, shed- 
ding a faint glimmer upon our recumbent forms, and 
lighting dimly the many strange and picturesque 
objects with which we were surrounded. 

It was here that we were favored with another 
striking illustration of the wonderful gift of second 
sight possessed by Mrs. Wallack. We were reclin- 
ing, as I have said, outside of the tents, when during 
a pause in the conversation, we heard the major's 
wife calling out in a low timorous tone, 

" Charles, Charles, take my hand ; sit by me ; oh, 
I am afraid." 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 93 

" There is nothing to he afraid of here," said the 
major, tenderly taking her hand as she requested, 
" we are all by you ; tell me, what do you see?" 

For a moment she made no answer. She was 
reclining like the rest of us, but her form was mo- 
tionless, her eyes were directed towards the sand, 
a few paces distant, and but for their being half 
open, her whole appearance would have been that 
of a person asleep. 

Another shade of terror came over her face, and 
she again murmured, " Charles, where are you? — 
hold me tight — oh the waves are breaking in upon 
us." 

Then becoming more calm, she continued, still 
speaking in a low hesitating tone, " Ah yes, I see you 
now, for there is a vivid flash of lightning which 
seems to last. You are all here ; this is you, 
Charles, and there is Tom; and yes, there is Mr. 
Warrener and his wife; but where are we — how 
came we here? " 

" What further do you see?" inquired the major. 

"We are on a dreary, dismal rock," she answered 
feebly;" in the middle of the ocean; but no, there 
is land only so far away that we can just see it when 
it lightens. And the sea is foaming and boiling 
all around us. It is very dark, and it rains hard, 
and the waves are gaining on us. We shall be lost, 
oh we shall be lost ! " 

And she again relapsed into her mood of terror. 
Soon her face brightened and she murmured with 
a pleasant smile, " But here is a bird, a beau- 
tiful white bird, circling about us. It has come to 



94 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

help us I know, it looks so good — I am not afraid 
now." 

Again her mood changed suddenly, and the old 
look came back as she gasped out in accents of 
alarm, " The bird is leaving us; it has gone now, 
and we are alone; oh, we shall be lost, we shall be 
lost!" 

And then after the lapse of a few minutes, came a 
final burst of sunshine over her tranquillized features, 
as she faltered in heartfelt notes of gratitude and 
delight, "The beautiful white bird is coming back, 
yes it is coming back, and we shall be saved; and 
there is a man following it who has come out of the 
water — it has saved him and it will save us. Oh, we 
shall be saved, saved ; " and with a pleasant smile 
upon her face, she fell off into profound slumber. 

Some one observed that this mood of mind was 
probably the result of severe bodily fatigue, and as no 
other solution of the enigma was offered, we accepted 
this for the present, and retiring within our respect- 
ive tents, were soon, if my case was not exceptional, 
in a state of profound repose. 

The fresh dewy breeze of the morning, the spirited 
exercise of striking and packing our tents, shook off 
any cob-weby remains of sadness, which Mrs. Wal- 
laces revelations of the preceding evening might 
have left lingering about us. Before the sun was an 
hour high we were off on our last day's journey to- 
wards Wed-noon, now at a distance of some fifty 
miles. Early in the forenoon we passed a narrow 
defile leading through the Atlas mountains, and then 
came into the valley on the west, in which are situated 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 95 

many of the principal towns of South Barbary. 
The country now began to present an appearance of 
great interest and beauty. Immense fields of wheat, 
barley, and Indian corn, were visible on every side, 
gardens of vegetables in luxuriant bearing, and plant- 
ations of date, fig, pomegranate, orange, lemon, al- 
mond, olive, and argan trees, gave a cheerful and 
refreshing aspect to the scenery, while the numerous 
houses, and small walled towns, dotting the entire 
valley with their crowd of inhabitants clustering like 
bees about the doors and gateways, and surrounded 
as they mostly were with herds of the domestic 
animals, gave it a character at once lifelike and pa- 
triarchal. We were informed that these little com- 
munities considered themselves entirely free and 
independent — that they had each a special govern- 
ment of their own — headed by a chief of their own 
choice; but that in case of attack from an outside 
force, all united for the general defence, and in the 
event of any crime of magnitude being committed, 
the suspected party was sent to Wed-noon for trial. 
The cattle which we saw grazing so freely at large, 
were at night driven within the inclosure of the walls 
to protect them from the predatory attacks of their 
little scrupulous neighbors. 

Towards eleven o'clock, " the sun being over the 
foreyard," as our captain figuratively remarked, we 
entered the little town of Akkadia, where we had a 
lunch of dried fruit, bread and camels' milk. 

Here, strange to say, we missed our interpreter. 
He had been with us in the morning, for 1 recol- 
lected well his assisting to pack the camels. What 



96 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

could have become of him ? We had none of us 
been altogether pleased with him. Still we had 
never quarrelled, and could imagine no reason for his 
leaving us in this unhandsome manner. 

As we passed out by the southern gateway, we saw 
at a short distance in advance of us, a long train of 
camels numbering, 1 should think, some two hundred. 
They were also travelling southward, but we, bearing 
the lighter weight, speedily overtook them. Their 
freight consisted of Guinea cloth, gums, dried dates, 
argan oil, ostrich feathers, ivory, and gold dust. In 
addition to their half dozen attendants walking 
alongside, all dressed in uniform, and distinguished 
by a strip of blue cotton wrapped about the lower 
part of their white turbans and dropping on the left 
side nearly to the hip, was a person in more elegant 
attire, riding on the foremost camel of the train. 
Over his dress of a wanderer he wore a flowing robe 
of camels' hair, curiously embroidered with blue and 
scarlet. He was furthermore attired in red morocco 
leggins fastened to a pair of Moorish slippers, and 
broad belts of the same color and material, crossing 
at the breast and back. From these were suspended 
a brass mounted powder-horn of extra dimensions, 
and a brightly burnished cimeter. On the left side 
of his saddle was fastened a long French musket, 
elegantly decorated with silver bands. Around his 
waist he wore a broad sash of blue silk, and another 
was twined about his turban, and hung down upon 
his left side in a similar manner to the cotton head- 
gear of the attendants. 

But notwithstanding, his dress was studiously that 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 97 

of a native of the country in which we were travel- 
ling, and his bushy, black beard and sun burnt face 
would have done no disgrace to an Arab or a Moor, 
there was in his countenance a certain broad, 
honest, and good natured expression which plainly 
bespoke an Anglo-saxon origin. I at once concluded 
that this could be no other than Mr. Vinal. Yet I was 
but half satisfied with this understanding, for there 
was a dashiness in his costume which I did not quite 
like, and besides I looked in vain for that sense of 
power and dignity which I had always associated in 
my mind with the person of Vinal. These observa- 
tions I had an opportunity of making, as he wheeled 
his camel out of the train and turning his head 
towards us, courteously awaited our approach. 

It happened that the camel on which I was 
riding, was the foremost of our party. On approach- 
ing this fanciful and mysterious character, he bade 
us good morning, and inquired if we were going to 
Wed-noon. I returned his salutation and replied to 
his question in the affirmative. He then with a not 
ungraceful gesture of his hand to those in the rear, 
wheeled his animal about again, and we jogged on 
side by side. I had now an opportunity of observing 
him closer, and could not help remarking, at times, a 
blank and unsettled expression of the eye, as if a 
light had suddenly gone out within, and which was 
too evidently the sign of a feeble if not disordered 
mind. This perplexed me a little, and I resolved to 
settle at once the question of his identity. 

M Are you Mr. Vinal 1 " said I, more abruptly than 
true politeness would have dictated. 
9 



98 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

"I, Mr. Vinal!" exclaimed he in a tone expres- 
sive of the horror which he felt, that any one should 
have conceived an idea so monstrous — "Am I 
Prince Albert, or the Great Mogul ? Do I look like 
either of them ?" 

Surely he was not the former, and as for the 
latter, I knew nothing of his personal appearance, 
and indeed had but a very uncertain idea of his 
existence, and was consequently unable to return a 
satisfactory answer. 

"But you are strangers/' continued our new 
friend, after a moment, softening down in consid- 
eration of our non-acquaintance with the country 
and its inhabitants, "and don't know Mr. Vinal ; 
otherwise, I should not have to inform you that he 
is a man as much superior to other men, at least, all 
other men that ever I happened to fall in with, as 
day is better than night ! " 

I could not help smiling at the man's earnest 
admiration of Mr. Vinal, which nevertheless seemed 
to come from his heart. Whether he had subtlety 
enough to guess at my thoughts, I know not, but he 
continued as if in explanation of his last remark — 

"And good reason have I for saying so, too. For 
twenty-three years I was a slave on the desert, when 
God in his mercy sent this disguised angel — for if 
he is n't that, I don't know what he is — to my relief. 
He paid my ransom money, and sent me back to 
London, my native place — John Mullay, of London, 
at your service, sir — making me believe all the time 
that he was merely an agent for a British society, 
whose business it was to hunt out and ransom 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 99 

Christian slaves in Barbary; for he can't stand 
thanks, no how, Mr. Vinal can't. He's a queer man 
that way. Tell him just what he is, and, good gra- 
cious, you can wring him like a wet sheet ! 

" But I soon found him out, shy as he was, for 
when I arrived in London, and could track neither 
hide nor hair of my old relatives and cronies, I began 
to inquire for the ' Society for ransoming Christian 
slaves in Barbary.' Some winked and said that 
benevolent young virgin had not yet 'come out' in 
fashionable life, but doubtless would as soon as some 
rich old earl or dowager could be found to act as 
chaperon. Others shook their heads, and contented 
themselves with touching their foreheads in a know- 
ing way that was meant to imply that my brain was 
either weak, or wandering. At length I was directed 
to a gentleman who was a member of Parliament, 
and was said to know all about the philanthropic 
societies of the day. I found him at home, living in 
a perfect palace, too, he was. Well, I told him my 
business, and his face brightened so much, as I related 
to him some of my hardships, that I began to think 
he was going to help me and felt glad in advance. 
1 Sir,' said he, when I had done talking, 'it is a 
good idea, and shall be attended to. I will bring it 
forward forthwith. Society for the ransom of Chris- 
tian slaves in Barbary, it is grand ; it leaves Wilber- 
force and Clarkson quite in the shade. My dear sir, 
I am very grateful to you for proposing this. I 
can never repay you.' I stopped him as he was 
proceeding in this style, by asking him if he could 
let me have the small matter of half a pound to 
assist in procuring me some present necessaries. 



100 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

"'As to that,' he answered, c the society is not 
yet formed, and if it were, I am not sure that it 
would come within its province to assist those 
already ransomed. But all this, sir, shall receive 
due consideration.' And so he was waving me off 
with his hand, when I told him that my next move 
would be back to South Barbary, where 1 knew a 
man that I would rather be slave to than stand in 
his shoes, member of parliament though he was. 
He touched his forehead as others had done, and 
motioning to a servant to show me out, in which 
was also implied a command to kick me out, in case 
1 showed any reluctance about going, resumed his 
writing. This was my last attempt to get any 
help at home." 

Our new friend had much to tell us about the 
country we were in, himself, and Mr. Vinal. He 
was then, as he informed us, on his return from a 
trading expedition to Soudan, of course in the em- 
ploy of Vinal, but that the night previous, when on 
the desert, through an error in his calculation, not 
thinking himself so far to the northward, he had run 
by Wed-noon, and striking to the westward, had 
this morning fallen in with Akkadia. He also told 
us that Vinal had many other trading caravans, and 
had his friends and allies among all the roving tribes; 
that he had ransomed many other slaves besides 
himself, and that now, as he had that morning learnt 
at Akkadia, his yacht, the Bold Runner, was absent 
to the island of Madeira, where she had gone with a 
crew of shipwrecked mariners whom he, Vinal, had 
lately discovered in a dreadful state of destitution, 
near the seashore. 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 101 

His opinion was that we had done wisely in com- 
ing down to consult with Mr. Vinal, relative to our 
expedition. " Because," said he, "he is the man to 
furnish the camels, for he has over twelve hundred 
here at Wed-noon, and if any permission of the 
emperor or any thing of that kind is wanting, he has 
only to go to him and ask, to have it granted at 
once. But have you brought money with you to pay 
for your camels? " 

"Certainly we have," said I indignantly, "do you 
suppose we are out here on a fool's errand ? " 

"That makes it bad again," continued he mus- 
ingly, "for you must know that Mr. Vinal don't 
somehow like taking money from a friend, and he 
don't seem to like money itself either, very well, and 
Lord help us, he's got millions. Now that is what 
I call one of the strangest things about the man, for 
generally you know, the more a man has the more 
he wants. But ah, there's no understanding him — 
there's Wed-noon." 

A turn in the road had brought us suddenly in 
view of Wed-noon, now at a distance of a few miles. 
It is situated on rising ground, and with its nume- 
rous houses and gardens makes rather a pleasant 
appearance on approaching it. We found it to be 
very similar to the other villages we had passed in 
point of fortifications, for although it had a high 
wall encompassing it, yet this presented such a 
dilapidated appearance in some places, that it was 
evident a determined body of men would not be 
long stayed by this impediment. Many of the larger 

houses were inclosed within walls of more solid 
9 # 



102 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

pretensions, covered upon the top by thorn bushes. 
The gardens and cattle parks were likewise pro- 
tected in the same way. 

Just before entering the town, our new friend filed 
off with his caravan towards the camel park of Mr. 
Vinal, adjoining which was his warehouse. The 
houses being built irregularly, without any regard 
to streets, we might have had some difficulty in 
finding Vinal's, had not our devidjis known him. 
They pointed out to us his residence near the en- 
trance, a two-story dwelling house built in the form 
of a hollow square, the lower part being constructed 
of mud and stones stuccoed, and the second story of 
wood, painted a light straw color, with ash colored 
Venetian blinds. The walls inclosing this structure 
were freshly whitewashed, and the place had an air 
of great comfort and cleanliness without making 
pretensions to style. Our companions here left us, 
and we rode up to introduce ourselves. 

On entering the high gateway we found ourselves 
in a paved court, checkered with tamarind and 
palm trees. It was a much larger inclosure than 
we had at first supposed — containing, in fact, nearly 
an acre. The house also proved to be of great 
dimensions, but was so exquisitely proportioned, and 
beautifully neat, as at first sight to look small. On 
one side of the court was a long low building which 
we took to be a hen-coop, from seeing a number of 
Guinea fowls in the neighborhood. There was a 
cistern near the gateway with a tamarind tree shad- 
ing it, and an Arab tent pitched picturesquely along- 
side. A gazelle which had been drinking there, 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 103 

fled timidly to the house as we entered, leaving its 
attendant and the one having charge of the guinea 
fowls, both in the blue and white head-gear of 
Vinal's retainers, to receive us if so disposed. 

We had no chance however to observe their move- 
ments, for at the same instant a young man with a 
fresh and remarkably boyish face came out of the 
house and almost bounded along the yard to meet 
us. He was plainly dressed in coat and pantaloons 
of brown linen, with a black ribbon about his neck, 
and wore upon his head a Panama hat. He was a 
little above the medium height, slender and graceful, 
but with a certain squareness and finish about his 
joints, suggestive of strength and agility. He could 
not have been more than twenty-five years of age, 
perhaps less. What I particularly noticed about him 
at first, was a desire to laugh, which he seemed to 
restrain with difficulty. I think this must have been 
owing to our puzzled looks as much as to our bedrag- 
gled appearance, for we certainly had not expected 
to find a young gentleman at Mr. Vinal's. 

"Ladies and gentlemen/' said he, shaking us cor- 
dially by the hand, "this is joyful. I can't conceive 
where you have come from, but you are as welcome 
as if you had dropped down from heaven ! v 

He gave the Arab sign to the camels, who instantly 
knelt down, and we dismounted. At the sight of 
the children he was yet more pleased. Taking one 
in his arms and another by the hand, he led the way 
into the house. "Come," said he, "we'll go up 
stairs and lie down a while and take some refresh- 
ment, while the baths are being got ready. There 
are hammocks enough for us all." 



104 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

" Mr. Vinal is away from home, I presume," re- 
marked the major. 

" No, sir," observed the young man laughing, 
"not while I am here." 

" Why," said the major's wife, " I thought you 
certainly could be no nearer relation to him than his 
son." 

This pleased Vinal most of any thing yet, and he 
laughed again in a perfect overflow of good nature, 
as he replied, 

" I am really sorry, ladies and gentlemen, that 
when you were expecting to meet a venerable 
father, a sage of the desert or some such romantic 
character, you should fall in with such a very plain 
specimen of a boy as I must own to being. But al- 
though I might plead guilty to being the son of Mr. 
Vinal, yet there is none of my name in this country 
that I am aware of. So you will please to consider 
me for the future, not as Mr. Vinal, but as Dick 
Vinal, which is my name, nothing more or less, 
and in that manner I like to be styled by my 
friends." 

While the major was giving him an idea of our 
expedition, I had an opportunity to study his physi- 
ognomy still further. His face, as I said before, was 
boyish, but this was owing partly to his clear florid 
complexion and smoothly shaven beard, and was 
only remarkable when the simplicity of his heart had 
control of it. Now as he listened to the major it was 
expressive of the dignity of the staidest manhood. 
His hair was of a brown color, cut short and inclined 
to curl. His high, broad forehead projected slightly 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 105 

over his full blue eyes. His nose was small and 
straight, and his mouth, with the under jaw advanc- 
ing a very little, and closing in lines of wonderful 
beauty, gave a perfection to his lineaments which 
left nothing to desire. It was a face in which was a 
strange mixture of boyish simplicity, with energy, 
perseverance and indomitable will, but with a vivid 
good heartedness playing like sunlight over the 
whole. When you looked upon his firm set mouth, 
with determination in every princely line, he seemed 
to be defying all the powers of earth and air to 
thwart his schemes; but over his brow and from his 
eyes the sentiment of his soul was also gleaming, — 
"Thou shalt do no wrong." And when he turned 
those eyes full upon you, so that you had to meet 
them, they seemed to say — " Come, be my friend 
and I will be thine, and no harm shall come to either 
of us ; " and they flung this challenge out exultingly, 
as if they would add in the full consciousness of the 
spirit — " For I am strong — strong — strong ! " 

When the major came to that part of his narrative, 
in which Wed -noon had been pictured to us as a 
seaport, Vinal indulged in a hearty laugh, and in- 
deed we afterwards found out that we were thirty 
miles from the coast. 

" And so you want camels," remarked he, at the 
close, "Oh, it's excellent, and I've got such lots of 
them! I shall pick out a hundred of the best, and 
send them up to Mogadore, whenever you get ready 
for them. I am now going down to my park to look 
after that rascal of a John Mullay, and see that he 
don't work too hard in the sun. You must amuse 



106 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

yourselves as you can ; we dine at five. To-day 
Bel Cassim, the sheik of Wed-noon, and his cousin 
Sidi Ben Hamet, a sort of prime minister, dine with 
me. Good fellows, but rather taciturn, so we shall 
have to depend on ourselves to keep conversation 
from flagging. Till then good by." 

And taking down a little switch cane which hung 
against the wall, and lighting a genuine havana, 
Vinal sauntered forth, looking for all the world like 
a young West India planter on a stroll about his 
estate. 



CHAPTER XII. 



GLORIOUS DICK VINAL, 



We were sitting at table after dinner discussing 
some excellent old claret. I had always had an 
impression that there was a passage in the Koran 
prohibiting true believers from indulging in wine, but 
on seeing the conduct of Bel Cassim and Sidi Ben 
Hamet, on that occasion, I was convinced of my 
mistake. 

"Well, gentlemen," said Vinal, "you have seen 
Wed-noon. What do you think of it as a seaport?" 

"The scoundrel!" muttered the major between 
his teeth. 

" That Snazem is a cunning rascal," continued 
Vinal ; " however, I ought not to find fault with him, 
at any rate, since he has been the means of intro- 
ducing such agreeable company into my house. Do 
you know that I am a little disappointed in you, 
coming as you do from a part of our country which 
I have no particular reasons for liking?" 

"We are from New England, Sir," said Tom, 
thinking that he was laboring under some mistake. 

"So am I," answered Dick, "but I would advise 



108 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

you not to boast of that about here, as the only idea 
of New England, which the great majority of people 
in this country have, is associated with the vilest of 
all bad liquors — rum. I have no objection to good 
wine, and I believe it to be far better for the general 
health of mankind than the favorite American beve- 
rages of tea and coffee ; but this New England fire- 
water is without doubt the greatest curse which the 
mischief-seeking ingenuity of man ever devised. 
When I was a merchant in that country, I could 
never sufficiently admire the beautiful consistency of 
certain philanthropists, who sent missionaries to the 
heathen in the ship's cabin, and fire-arms and fire- 
water in her hold. I suppose these individuals had 
skipped in their daily readings that portion of the 
Bible where the Lord's prayer is fdund, and sent this 
merchandise to try the nascent strength of the young 
converts in resisting temptation." 

u One of the best things," observed Tom, "which 
I know of in this line, is what happened not many 
years since in a certain orthodox church, in one of 
New England's staidest towns. The congregation 
were decidedly ultra on all the isms of the day, and 
particularly strait-laced on the temperance question. 
Some how or other, of course nobody in particular 
was responsible for it, the cellar of the church was 
let to a liquor dealer, who stored therein certain 
merchandise, which caused an alcoholic odor to per- 
vade the house. One Sunday, just before the hour 
of afternoon service, a wag, whose olfactories were 
a little tickled by the said odor, perpetrated this epi- 
gram, which he pasted on the inner door, where the 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 109 

congregation might have a chance of reading it on 
entering — 

" There be spirits above 
And spirits below, 
Spirits of love 

And spirits of woe ; 
But the spirits above are the spirits divine, 
And the spirits below are the spirits of wine." 

"Quite characteristic," said Dick; "and now 
allow me to ask you how you expect to find your 
brig again, since it's pretty certain that she'll never 
find Wed-noon?" 

"Is there no settlement or harbor on the coast?" 
inquired Captain Wilson. "I had no chart of the 
place, but supposed there must be some show of a 
town, about here." 

"None at all," replied Vinal, "and the only thing 
for us to do is to go in search of the brig. She is 
probably by this time pretty tired of looking for you. 
I propose, then, that we start to-morrow morning 
early for the seaside. There are high rocky cliffs 
all along shore, which command a fine view of the 
ocean. If the brig is within twenty miles we shall 
see her. I will take with me a large American flag 
which I have here, and we will hoist it there as a 
signal for the vessel to come in, if she should prove 
to be in the neighborhood. We will then order her 
back to Mogadore, and I will send up a train of 
camels to meet her, as we have already agreed on." 

We were pretty tired with our three days' tramp, 
and would gladly have rested for a little while. But 
as Vinal had kindly offered to assist us, we could 

10 



110 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

not certainly object to looking after our own property. 
It was agreed that the captain and I should accom- 
pany him to the seaside, leaving the major and 
Tom to take care of the women and children, and 
that we should start at daybreak on the morrow. 

Just as we had made this arrangement, my wife 
came in with a look of alarm in her countenance, 
and bearing in her hands the saddlebags which, as 
I have before said, contained our money. 

" The gold is gone," said she, bringing them to the 
table, "and the bags are filled with rocks instead." 

She then showed us how a piece of leather had 
been smoothly cut out of the side of each one, and 
dexterously reinserted after the exchange had been 
made. 

"It is that villain Snazem who has done this," 
said Vinal, promptly. "I know the way of those 
thievish vagabonds well. All the mysteries of his 
conduct are now fully explained." 

I now remembered that I had given him the bags 
to pack in with the saddle of my camel, but the 
scoundrel must have practised this art before, as he 
had possession of them but a minute. 

Here was a pretty dilemma for us. Our vessel on 
a wild goose chase we knew not where, our money 
gone, and ourselves the guests of a semi-barbarian 
prince. If ever three poor fellows felt supremely 
foolish, we did so at that moment. In my confusion 
of ideas I half suspected that Vinal might take us 
for impostors, and disbelieve our story of the money, 
and our still more ridiculous one of the brig in quest 
of Wed-noon. But on venturing to look up at him, 
all my apprehensions immediately vanished. 



THE CAMEL HUNT. Ill 

There was a bright beam of happiness playing 
over his fine face, which I seem to see now. If, 
as Solomon tells us, "A merry heart maketh a 
cheerful countenance," his must have been fairly 
overflowing with gladness. Observing, however, 
our bewildered and chopfallen countenances, his 
own changed, and leaning back in his chair he burst 
into a laugh, merry and free-hearted as that of a 
boy just let loose from school. 

" Well done," said he; "a pretty set of Yankees 
you are, to be taken in in this style by a beggarly 
Moor. Why, you seem to believe everybody as 
honest and trustworthy as yourselves. What do 
you propose to do now?" 

"Is there no way of recovering this money and 
bringing the rascal to justice?" inquired the major. 
" Suppose we were to make it known to the gov- 
ernor of Mogadore, and write to " — 

"None," interrupted Vinal ; "he is by this time 
far enough away in the trackless sands of the desert, 
or snugly hidden in some of the fastnesses of Atlas. 
I may indeed one day get hold of him, through some 
of my faithful Arabs, but the money I fear is gone 
forever. The poor wretch is to be pitied, any way," 
continued he, while a shade of touching commisera- 
tion stole over his expressive face, "though he is 
probably so constituted that he will never feel any 
of the pangs of remorse. He belongs to a family 
who doubtless think it a kind of virtue to rob a 
Christian. But, after all, what a mean thing is 
remorse, compared with the never-ceasing loss of 
that eternal satisfaction one feels in the remembrance 
of a good and generous deed" — 



112 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

"Our voyage is up," said the major, sadly — 
"and yet I don't feel so bad at this as that these 
scurvy recurrences make one lose all faith in the 
good of his fellow-men." 

"Not so fast," replied Vinal; "don't judge the 
world by its exceptions; and as for your expedition 
being terminated, don't delude yourself with any 
such idea — not a bit of it. You shall have your 
camels, as many as your vessel will carry, and any 
further funds yon may need in the pursuance of your 
plans, and reimburse me when convenient. Stop, 
no thanks, I am only doing what you would be glad 
to do if in my position, and as the privilege happens 
to be mine, I don't see but I derive the greatest ad- 
vantage from the arrangement." 

I thought the major would have stepped across 
the table to embrace him. 

" Ladies and gentlemen," continued Vinal, "you 
look upon me with an air that seems to say I am a 
strange man. Perhaps I am. At all events I am a 
very happy one, and that I believe is something 
strange, for I have either read, heard or dreamt that 
few people have ever made a similar confession. 
Perhaps you would like to know how I came out 
here, enjoying myself in this outre fashion, asso- 
ciating with blacks, Moors and Arabs, being as well 
acquainted in Gambia as I am at Morocco or Tom- 
buctoo, having the descendants of Ishmael for my 
nearest friends and neighbors, and Zahara, which 
other white men dread, for my promenade ground. 
The story is a short one. 

' ; My parents died while I was quite a child, leaving 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 113 

me to be brought up by my uncle. My father left 
a large amount of property, which I, being an only 
child, was to come into possession of on reaching the 
years of maturity. My uncle was a merchant, a 
very respectable man in his way, not rich, but of 
good standing in the world, a church member, and, 
like every body else, looked up "to by his inferiors on 
'change. Like my father, he had but one child — a 
daughter. 

"Of course I was sent to Cambridge. I had no 
particular fondness for study, and was soon tired of 
the stupid life which I led there. But I knew that 
it was of no use remonstrating with my uncle on the 
subject, for it was considered very respectable to be 
going through the motions of a student at old Har- 
vard. So at the close of my sophomore year I ran 
off and went whaling. This life proved to be rather 
a hard one; still it was far preferable to the musty 
existence which I had led among the book-crammed 
halls of Cambridge. 

" I was absent three years. On my return, I found 
myself, like Byron, suddenly .become famous, for I 
had come into possession of my property. My 
uncle consulted with me about business, and my aunt 
was particularly gracious. My cousin, only a few 
years my junior, had grown into an elegant young 
woman; she received me with cordiality, but, I 
thought, had become a little shyer of me than of 
old. I was invited to dinner parties, musical par- 
ties, wedding parties, and all sorts of parties, and. 
was well received every where. For a few months 
I enjoyed this finely, believing every body and every 

10* 



114 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

thing which I saw about me to be true, thereby 
showing how exceedingly verdant I was at the time. 

"When I found out my mistake, I became dis- 
gusted with this kind of society. So leaving 
manoeuvring mammas and calculating daughters to 
try their net-work on some other 'nice young man,' 
I betook myself to business. I took an office on 
'the street,' which being interpreted, means State 
street, not deciding on any regular, legitimate sort of 
business, but resolved to go into any thing which 
might turn up. I had a kind of Quixotic notion of 
bringing forward deserving people, and of re-estab- 
lishing the unfortunate in trade. I was also par- 
ticularly inclined to take hold of any thing new, and 
was very kindly disposed towards foreigners out of 
employ. This latter trait, at the end of a few 
weeks, had caused an introduction of seven clerks 
into my office, and I could have transacted business 
in as many different languages, if I had had any 
business to transact. 

u My uncle objected to the course I was taking, as 
being sure to terminate in my ruin. He advised me 
to 'go into gunny bags or flour.' 1 saw nothing 
very inviting in gunny bags that should make me 
desire to 'go into' them; and as for speculating in 
flour, I had conscientious scruples which forbade it, 
so I stuck to my own course. 

"You may be sure that as soon as my peculiar 
views were known, 1 had no lack of occupation. 
Propositions for business poured in on all sides. Not 
to weary you with details, 1 will just say that I was 
unsuccessful in every thing which I undertook, so far 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 115 

as pecuniary gain constitutes success. All the per- 
sons with whom I had any business connection 
defrauded me, or at all events I was a loser by 
them. My uncle, however, never seemed to see that 
there was any thing wrong on their part, but attrib- 
uted my misfortunes solely to a want of shrewdness 
on my own. In one case I recollect he insisted upon 
my following up a man who owed me a small 
balance of a few hundred dollars, which he said I 
would recover by perseverance. 'No, 7 said I, 
morbidly, 'everybody else has profited at my ex- 
pense; I shall feel better not to have this solitary 
exception. 7 

"Some of my operations, in spite of their ruinous 
results, were rather comic than otherwise, in the 
circumstances attending them. 

"There was an old ex-stager, Ruggles by name, 
who used to drive a coach from Boston to Salem, 
and with whom, in my younger days, I had often 
been over the road. Well, he came to me, and 
wanted to be established in a kind of chop-house, 
which he proposed to call the Tom Jefferson. He 
threatened, if I didn't help him in this, to feign deaf, 
and allow himself to be run over by the first loco- 
motive which came in his way, so that the invention 
which did not tolerate his profession might also do 
away with himself. I set him up and lost the whole 
of my investment. 

"I took a large number of shares in a new ice 
company. This I was sure would turn out some- 
thing. We got in a fine stock of ice, and it proved 
to be a good year for selling it. One day, about the 



116 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

time when I was expecting a dividend, the manager 
of the concern came to my office, and informed me 
that a certain railroad which was to have been built, 
running by our pond, had not been constructed, and 
that our ice would not be worth the expense of 
bringing it to market. 'In consequence of which,' 
added he, waggishly, 'the whole thing is to be 
abandoned, and we are all to meet at the ice office 
this evening, where we are to have a monster mint 
julep, mixed in a barrel; and as ice has sucked us 
in, we are to retaliate by sucking in ice. Each of 
the proprietors is to be furnished with a straw at the 
expense of the company — not an inappropriate pro- 
vision, as many of them, to tell the truth, were 
never any thing better than men of straw.' 

"On one occasion a tall serious looking gentleman, 
attired in a seedy suit of black, with a white neck- 
cloth, called to see me, and handed me a card on 
which was written, 'J. Smythe, D. D.' I invited the 
reverend doctor into my private room, where I joined 
him as soon as previous business permitted. 

" ( Sir,' said he to me on entering, 'I have come 
to solicit your aid in a very special case.' 

" Here he paused, and seemed embarrassed. I, 
thinking to help him out, suggested 'Foreign Mis- 
sions ?' 

" 'Ah, no ! ' he replied sadly, 'I am not a doctor 
of divinity, as your manner towards me seems to 
imply, but a Disappointed Dentist. There are 
twenty-seven of us, sir, in the city — all D. D.'s — 
and we have united together on the mutual principle, 
to keep the mutual pot a boiling, sir, under the style 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 117 

of the 'Short Association.' By our bye-laws each 
member is bound to contribute his gross earnings to 
the general fund, and all expenses are paid there- 
from. But I have reasons for believing that these 
laws are not religiously observed. One member 
has been recently suspected of having taken a plate 
of soup furtively at Parker's, on a rainy day, when 
the mutual pot was rather empty. Another was 
actually seen eating a piece of pie in the market- 
house ; and two, no longer ago than yesterday, re- 
fused to allow their breath to be smelt of on coming 
in, — a proceeding authorized by our bye-laws, — 
leaving us to infer thereby, that they had been in- 
dulging in ale, or other expensive drinks. 7 

" 1 could hardly help laughing at the fellow's grav- 
ity while narrating this pitiful story; but I managed 
to ask him what assistance he wanted. 

"He replied that he had made a calculation, and 
that there were no less than one hundred and thirty 
thousand teeth in the city, which needed arranging. 
' Now,' said he, ' if some kind friend will assist 
me, and I can get my proportion of this business, I 
shall leave the mutual club, and shall do very well 
by myself.' 

"1 advised him to go a-whaling, and advanced 
him the funds necessary for his outfit. 

" His remark about the number of unsound teeth in 
the city amused me not a little. Another illustration 
of the old proverb, that 'Out of the fullness of the 
heart the mouth speaketh,' occurred in the case of a 
simple young fellow whom I established in the magic 
lantern business. He was exhibiting for the first 



118 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 



time in a country town, where the attendance was 
not large. At length the door opened and two en- 
tered at once. The poor fellow's joy was so great 
that he could not contain himself, and he exclaimed 
in a loud tone, ' Here comes two more ninepences ! ' 
The boys caught up the saying, and whenever the 
door was opened afterwards, would cry out from one 
end of the hall to the other, ' Here comes another 
ninepence ! ' 

" When I lookback upon this period, and think of 
the grotesque characters and queer vicissitudes with 
which I then became acquainted, I am inclined to 
dwell with a half smile at times at their very odd- 
ness. And yet, such mirth has something bitter in 
it at the best, for these people were most of them 
in some way or other at variance with the world, 
and far from being either happy or contented. 

" Well, as I was saying, every thing went wrong 
with me in business. Even when I bought vessels 
and sent them to places where others were making 
money, it turned out that just as I entered upon it, 
the trade was sure to be overdone, and I was just in 
season for the death. So at the end of twelve 
months, after having lost one half of my property, 
I decided to retire from business, for I never could 
quite make up my mind to ' go into gunny bags.' 

" During my continuance in trade I acquired much 
worldly wisdom, among which was one precept, 
which I believe is handed down from father to son 
in every strictly mercantile family — ' Never trust a 
man for his countenance, his sentiments, or his prin- 
ciples, however good they may each and all be; but 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 119 

if you would know his true worth go to the banks, 
the insurance and rail-road offices, the registry of 
deeds and the custom-house.' 

" Tired of the outer world, and distrustful of society, 
I now shut myself up in the house for months to- 
gether. Being young, buoyant and full-blooded, I 
became neither morose nor melancholy, but stayed 
at home simply because there was nothing inviting 
to me out of doors. 

" Up to this time my uncle and aunt had looked 
upon me as a suitable person for a husband of their 
daughter. My fortune was still large, and through 
the sagacity of my uncle, was invested in such a 
way, that my income was sufficient to support 
a family in princely style. But as we on our part 
manifested no intention, but a decided disinclination 
towards seconding their views, a middle-aged wid- 
ower was allowed by them to try his fortune in 
gaining her affections. He was a smooth-faced, oily- 
tongued, civil, smiling individual, rather under the 
common height, but of more than ordinary rotun- 
dity, and reputed to be very rich. There were other 
rumors about him not much to his credit. The 
poor girl was ordered to try and love him. Had she 
been unengaged, he could not but have been dis- 
tasteful to her. But as it was, he must have been 
positively hateful, for I knew that her heart was far 
enough away, wandering among the islands of the 
South Pacific, with a black -eyed boy who had left 
his own with her in exchange, and 1 knew, too, that 
her beautiful image was the light of his solitary 
night-watch, and his better angel by day, keeping 



120 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

him pure and stainless amid the temptations of 
foreign lands ; and, I vowed to myself, tha»t for his 
sake as well as for hers, this infernal bargain never 
should be consummated ! 

"One bright Sunday morning, this interesting suitor 
for a second wife made his appearance at the house 
just before the hour of going to church. My cousin 
was m the drawing-room, dressed to go out, and I 
was also there, sitting by a window reading, when 
he came in. Clara started at the sight of him as 
if she had seen an adder. As he came towards her, 
she seated herself and commenced drawing off her 
gloves. He changed color, and, in a husky voice, 
inquired if she was not going to church? She made 
no reply, and I saw that she was ready to burst into 
tears. He evidently had not seen me, for he went 
immediately to where she was sitting, and muttering 
1 Child ! ? seized her hand rudely, and endeavored to 
draw it beneath his arm. But he had no time to 
complete his purpose, for the blood rushed to my tem- 
ples as I sat casting sidelong glances towards him, 
and I sprang at him like an infuriated madman. \ Vil- 
lain ! ; said I, while I grasped him by his elegant 
neckcloth, ' is this the fruit of that forbearance 
which has permitted your disgraceful presence in 
this house?' and dragging him to the street door, 
I pitched him out headlong upon the pavement." 

"Good!" shouted the major, striking the table 
with his fist; and indeed there was not a face around 
the board which did not exhibit a smile of approba- 
tion and delight, — as for Bel Cassim and Sidi Ben 
Hamet, who had been nearly asleep a moment pre- 



The camel hunt. 121 

vious, and of course understood not a word of what 
was being said, they fairly laughed outright. 

" After this occurrence," resumed Vinal, "I was, 
of course, in disgrace with the elderly members of 
the family, for the man whose nose rumor said I had 
broken had great influence on 'change. But my 
cousin's roguish glances of heartfelt gratitude, were 
more than an offset for any little coolness elsewhere. 

"A few days after, however, the black-eyed boy 
came home, and as he had been successful in his ad- 
ventures, and furthermore appeared like an excellent 
young man, he was accepted on all sides as the 
suitor of Clara, and all went well again. His pres- 
ence in our limited household was as cheerful and 
invigorating as a gust of warm fresh sek breeze from 
the far Pacific would have been, and it revived 
within me my old taste for wandering. Here, 
thought I, I am a sluggard and dissatisfied, — in 
another quarter of the globe I may be both useful 
and happy. And I went forth again among my 
fellow-men, and began to look about me for a des- 
tination. 

"What finally decided me to come here was singu- 
lar enough in itself. I had been one evening wan- 
dering about the lighted streets, with my cloak 
wrapped tightly round me, most of the time buried 
in reverie. At that period I went out more in the 
evening than during the day, from a kind of unwil- 
lingness which I still felt to meet my fellow-citizens 
face to face in too glaring a reality. The gaslights 
seemed to soften their unseemly peculiarities, and 
bring out in better contrast whatever excellencies 
11 



122 THE CAMEL HUNT.* 

they possessed. There was much less traffic than by 
sunlight. Of the people whom I met and passed, 
some spoke rapturously of music, and were perhaps 
on their way to a concert ; others discussed the 
drama, and were going to or returning from the 
theatre. Occasionally some quieter looking party 
hurried hastily along, anxious lest they should be 
too late for the prayer-meeting; or returning home, 
showed by their footsteps the yearning desire which 
they felt for a glimpse of their sleeping babes. But 
the most pleasing sight of all was, when a young 
couple passed slowly along the pavement, talking 
low and tenderly of love. To me, dreamer as I then 
was, it seemed like a period when the heart, mind 
and soul which all day long had been held in sub- 
jection to the corporeal frame, busy with its petty 
wants and grovelling cares, were free, and came 
forth to bask in a congenial atmosphere. 

" Well, one evening, as I was saying, I had been 
strolling about merely to while away the hours, 
when I came to a brilliantly lighted entry-way, 
through which several people were passing. I in- 
quired what was going on above, and was told that 
a distinguished gentleman was addressing the people 
on the subject of slavery. I have not much sym- 
pathy with this class of reformers, although I know 
many of them to be pure and high-minded men, still 
something prompted me to go in. The first sentence 
which the speaker uttered after my entrance decided 
my future course. He had evidently been speaking 
of the hard lot of the slave, surrounded though he 
may be in some cases with all the necessaries and 
comforts of life. 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 123 

" c I would rather,' continued he, in a fine burst of 
eloquence, ' be a wandering Arab of the desert, — a 
son of Ishmael, my hand against every man, and 
every man's hand against me, — homeless, houseless, 
wifeless, and childless if you will ; but free, free as 
the wind which raises the scorching sands about 
him, and may help to make his grave, — free as the 
summer cloud which drifts above him ? but cannot 
stop to yield one drop of water to his parching 
palate.' 

" I left the hall, and as I went home I said to my- 
self, ' Civilization has become distasteful to me, I 
will go among the Arabs.' 

" The next day found me busy in preparing for my 
departure. I arranged with my uncle to draw for 
my money whenever I might want it; for, like 
iEneas of old, I was going forth in quest of a home. 
I took passage in a vessel from Boston bound to Gib- 
raltar. Thence I came to Mogadore, from which 
place I drifted hither. And here I am, ladies and 
gentlemen, as you see me, at home, happy as the 
soaring skylark, singing as he soars, and free as the 
breeze of heaven ! When I look back upon my 
previous life, it seems like a clouded dream compared 
with my present real, fresh and careering existence ! 

" But I am presuming on your good nature, partic- 
ularly as I know that you are just off of a hard 
three days' journey. And the snores of Bel and Sidi 
Ben are doubtless intended as a gentle hint to us 
that we are expected in the land of Nod." 

I took no further heed of the conversation, what- 
ever it might have been. The light of Vinal's 



124 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

character was shining in upon me, reflecting back 
upon his form, and mantling it, as it were, with a 
simple, spiritual majesty, exceedingly interesting to 
behold. He seemed the personification of an idea 
which had often haunted me, but which I had never 
before seen carried out in actual life, of turning 
away from wrong, either real or imaginary, letting 
it alone, and so rising superior to it. Here was a 
man who had been treated with hypocrisy, ingrati- 
tude or neglect, in a society where he had a right to 
expect better things, but who had not become soured 
or been made revengeful thereby. Disappointed in 
his best hopes, and dissatisfied in the experience of 
his own land, he had turned his face away, all in 
sorrow, nothing in anger, and made for himself, amid 
far different scenes, a sphere of usefulness, a happi- 
ness and a home. I would gladly have heard him 
tell of the noble and self-sacrificing deeds which 
made his life so fresh and gladsome, but it was not 
in his nature to speak of these things unasked. He 
was content to thank God for a happiness which he 
daily felt, without stopping to consider that it was 
the spontaneous overflowing of a soul full of good- 
ness and heroism. 

" What do you think of our host?" said I to the 
major, as we followed a domestic to our respective 
rooms for the night. 

" Glorious Dick Vinal ? " inquired he. 

"Glorious Dick Vinal!" said I. 

" Glorious Dick Vinal ! " echoed Tom. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE SEASIDE. 



The next morning while breakfast was being 
prepared, we all took a stroll down to Vinal's park, 
situated in the valley a short distance from the town, 
but nearer the mountains on the north. From these 
mountains flow many streams which are led off into 
the gardens in the suburbs of the town, and into 
the great cisterns in the cattle inclosures. In Vinal's 
park were over a thousand camels, all apparently 
well and in good keeping, thanks to the superintend- 
ing care of Mr. John Mullay, of London. We met 
this gentleman on his morning round, taking a bird's- 
eye survey of things, and he gave me a particularly 
triumphant look with his u Good morning," as much 
as to say, " Well, now, you have seen him for your- 
self — was I too earnest in my admiration — eh?" 

There was one small, dark brown heirie in the 
herd, a particularly malicious looking animal, which 
took Tom's fancy amazingly. Vinal observing this, 
insisted on his receiving it as a present, asking in 
exchange a promise that it should be well treated, 
" for," added he, "you will find him as gentle and 
swift as he is wild and malicious looking." 
11* 



126 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

While our host drew off for a moment, to say a 
few words to Mr. Mullay, we occupied the time in 
ascending to the roof, constructed above one of the 
great reservoirs within the inclosure, whence we 
had a fine view of the park with its mass of animal 
life. 

There is something singularly grand and impressive 
to the contemplative mind, in one of these same 
camel-parks. We see there an immense assemblage 
of the most patient, docile, useful, and I may add, 
sagacious and intelligent animals known to man. 
Look at that group just in from a long desert march, 
see how gracefully they bend their curved necks, 
and how lovingly, towards their drivers, who are 
relieving them of their packs : and what glances 
of kindest affection speak out from under their 
drooping eyelids, as they draw into their weary stom- 
achs whole gallons of the purest water. Or turn 
your attention to another quarter, towards that cara- 
van nearly ready for a start. Listen to those cries, 
plaintive but not angry, which are intended as a 
remonstrance against a further addition to a load al- 
ready heavy. See the look of gratitude which 
acknowledges the consideration of their masters in 
giving heed to their protest. And now, as they go 
out through the wide gateway, no whip or spur or 
bitter words excite them; — the riders know too well 
the delicate disposition of the creatures they rather 
accompany than lead, — but encouraged by songs 
and cheerful or playful coaxings, they begin and 
continue their much enduring voyage. Here are 
others reposing for a day or two, peacefully enjoying 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 127 

a long Sabbath. With what solemn deliberation 
they munch their bit of oil-cake or handful of beans, 
or nip off the foliage from the thorn bushes at their 
side. "Time enough," they seem to say; " when 
we are wanted we shall be on hand. 75 Those who 
call these precious animals stiff, clumsy, or ungrace- 
ful, see them only with a superficial eye. To us, 
who regard them more thoroughly, their very form 
presents such a display of Almighty science, in the 
exquisite adaption of the means to the end, that even 
the hump becomes a feature of beauty, and the long, 
slender, many-jointed leg, terminating in the broad 
splay foot is neither unwieldy or inelegant. And 
what adds most of all to their own peculiar majesty, 
and the respect and affection which we feel towards 
them, is the consciousness that we may count on 
them in the hour of hardship and peril, that they 
will not only bear us safely where we would other- 
wise perish, and be also our ships of trade to far 
countries, but that when we are faint even unto 
death, and the old earth is barren, and the fields of 
heaven are parched and dry, — like a nursing mother 
to the child she loves, they will yield up their 
own sustenance, so that we may not die. 

On our return to the house we found an Arab, 
whom Vinal had sent to the seacoast on the evening 
previous, to get fish for breakfast. He told us there 
was a sail in the offing, and as we made no doubt of 
its being the Double Eagle, we all agreed to go down 
to the coast after breakfast, and return to Mogadore 
with the vessel. Vinal was to go with us, leaving 
Mr. John Mullay to drive the camels up by land. 



128 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

"I should think," said the major to our host, as 
we sat at table, " that you would find the camel a 
very interesting subject to study and take care of." 

" He is indeed," remarked Vinal. "With more 
propriety than the dog or the horse, the camel may 
be called the friend of man. In this light he is pre- 
sented to us in the first records of antiquity. When 
a wife was sought for Isaac, the old servant of Abra- 
ham fixed upon a regard for camels as an appropri- 
ate mark by which he would not fail to recognize 
the maiden whom the Lord had destined for the 
favorite child of his master. And how beautifully 
did the gentle Rebecca answer to the test — 'And 
when she had done giving him drink, she said, I 
will draw water for thy camels also, until they have 
done drinking.' 

" ' And she hasted and emptied her pitcher into the 
trough and ran again unto the well to draw water, 
and drew for all his camels.' 

"When Jacob was returning home and wished to 
meet his brother Esau on friendly terms, he sent 
him, among other presents, thirty milch camels with 
their colts. And when Joseph was cast into the pit 
by his wicked brethren, we read that 'They lifted up 
their eyes and looked, and behold a company of 
Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels 
bearing spicery, and balm, and myrrh, going to 
carry it down to Egypt.' In those days as well as 
now it appears that the Ishmaelite and camel were 
inseparable. Doubtless, one of the greatest of Job's 
afflictions was when the Chaldeans fell upon his 
camels and carried off three thousand ; but in his 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 129 

latter days, when the Lord blessed Job more than in 
the beginning, he became the happy proprietor of six 
thousand." 

" Are there any accounts of the camel in a wild 
state?" inquired the major. 

"None that can be relied upon," replied Vinal ; 
" the Arabs indeed tell of seeing camels afar in the 
mountains, which they have pursued, and never 
been able to overtake, that there they wander free, 
and are of a different species from the camel of the 
plain. But I have no reason for believing these 
stories. I will tell you of a curious optical illusion 
which once occurred to me, and which has had, 
perhaps, a good deal to do with shaking my faith in 
the wild camel. I was travelling in the Berber 
country, back of Morocco, when one morning, as 
we were at breakfast, the Arabs called out ' wild 
camels ! ' I looked in the direction pointed out, and 
there was apparently a long train of camels winding 
round the base of one of the Atlas ridges, and reach- 
ing for miles into the ravine beyond, where they 
seemed congregated in such immense numbers as to 
present to the eye nothing but a confused ash-colored 
mass. I mounted my heirie, the same that you saw 
this morning in the park, and dashed off to have a 
nearer inspection. A brisk breeze sprang up, and 
the whole train started off like mad, leaping and 
careering like a herd of wild buffaloes, climbing 
upon each other, expanding in size, and absolutely 
alarming me by their crazy contortions. Pretty soon 
they commenced their gambols in the air, for I could 
distinctly see the bare brown rocks beneath them. 



130 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

The increasing wind, however, dispelled the illusion, 
and I found that I had been in chase of the morning 
mist. But pray tell me, where do you intend to 
take your camels on leaving Mogadore? I had 
thought that, in your country, steam was supplant- 
ing every other means of conveyance, even on the 
route to California." 

" We intend to land at Port Lavacca, in Texas,' 5 
said the major, "move up the Neuces valley to 
about the parallel of Presidio Rio Grande, thence to 
Paso del Norte, then cross the Rio Grande, and pro- 
ceed by the valley of the Gila to San Diego — a 
distance of about thirteen hundred miles. We 
believe, taking every thing into account, that this 
will prove the shortest and best route to California." 

" Probably it will," returned Vinal; "but it 
seems to me, — although, of course, at this distance, 
with my non-acquaintance with the subject, I am ill 
qualified to express an opinion — that, as the atten- 
tion of the people appears now to be directed al- 
most exclusively towards the Isthmus, it might be 
better to proceed to Chagres, and put the camels 
on the land part of that route. Their superiority 
over the horse and mule would thus be clearly 
made evident to vast numbers, and immediate suc- 
cess would be the result. In all new enterprises, 
success in the first movement is every thing, as it 
gives a confidence which a thousand later failures 
cannot destroy." 

This advice was certainly not in accordance with 
our own views, but if Vinal had recommended us to 
take our camels to the wall of China, I believe we 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 131 

should have done so. It was consequently decided, 
without further discussion, that we should go to 
Chagres. 

After breakfast the camels were brought round, 
and we set off down the valley. I noticed that the 
inhabitants were very respectful in their salutations 
to Vinal, and made a remark to that effect. 

"Well," said he, "I don't know why it is, except 
that I have always sought to do them good rather 
than harm. I was never afraid of them, and that 
may do something towards making them respect 
me. Besides, I am the first white man of fortune 
who has ever come to reside amongst them, and that 
flatters them, I suppose." 
I saw that he was not aware of his real power. 
As we approached the beach, the soil changed, 
becoming more clayey in spots, and was every where 
baked hard, with sharp flinty stones intermixed. 
After a ride of nearly three hours, we came in sight 
of the sea. We were on a kind of chalky cliff, 
which terminated abruptly on the seaside, in a 
precipice of several hundred feet. At the base of 
this cliff we heard the, rollers breaking in thunder 
tones. As far as we could see, on either side, the 
coast presented the same inhospitable aspect. We 
saw the sail very distinctly, to which the Arab had 
alluded in the morning, now at a distance from the 
shore of some four or five miles. It was not the 
Double Eagle, but a topsail schooner, standing to 
the southward. Nevertheless we erected our flag- 
staff in a spot which Vinal had previously arranged 
for the purpose, and hoisted our flag — in hopes that 



132 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

the strange vessel might come in, and, at least, give 
us some news of ours. Oar hopes in this respect 
were gratified, for she tacked ship on seeing our 
signal, and stood in for the shore. 

It was now high noon, and the sun was very hot. 
Vinal, who was well acquainted with thex^oast, told 
us of a little bay in the rocks, just to the southward 
of where we were, with a nice sandy beach, where 
we could sit under the shade of the cliffs and await 
the coming of the schooner's boat, as it was the only 
point where she could land. We found a natural 
descent in the rocks leading to this place, which 
proved to be a delightful spot. Here we had lunch, 
from a sack of good things put up at Vinal's, and 
with the sea, like an old friend, beside us, soothing 
us with the gentle music of its ripples, and at times 
awakening within us deeper emotions, when we 
listened to the crashing of its heavy organ tones, is 
it any wonder that the moments passed swiftly by? 

What is there about the ocean, the calm, lovely, 
terrible ocean, that makes us yearn towards it thus, 
and keep for it ever a place in our hearts 1 In the 
far inland, in the dungeon of a prison-house, or 
within the narrow walls of a sick room, if we have 
ever seen or heard it before in our lives, we shall 
see again its throbbing bosom, and hear its solemn 
reverberations along the shore. All people, of all 
times, have felt this something in the depths of their 
soul — answering 1o something profounder in the 
great deep of waters — whether it be the first 
disciples, by the shores of the lesser sea of Gallilee, 
or England's poet, gazing on its blackened fury 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 133 

amid the blue Symplegades, or the lone Indian, 
with the first faint roar of a mighty ocean breaking 
on his ear, as he strays wonderingly downward 
towards the west, 

" in the continuous woods 
Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound, 
Save his own dashings " — 

words still poetic, and descriptive of what was once 
the fact, — or the weary and heart-sick child of 
cities, coming to the sea, and lying down by its 
side as tranquilly as if it were a great mother, into 
whose sympathetic bosom he could pour all his sor- 
row and weariness. Philosophers have sought its 
shores, hoping its presence might breathe into their 
musings more pleasant veins, and great men have 
desired that their last sleep might be within the 
sound of its surgings. 

" By the sea's margin, on the watery strand, 
Thy monument, Themistocles, shall stand." 

Can it be possible that there is concealed within 
its depths, a life, massive, solemn, eternal, yet 
having some sympathy with our own? Why else 
did Achilles seek its shores to bewail the loss of his 
friend Patroclus ; or the tender Andromache go 
pacing its sandy barrier, with tears and lamenta- 
tions for her absent Hector? Why else did the 
great-hearted Kit North say of Childe Harold — 

u The image of the wanderer may well be asso- 
ciated, for a time, with the rock of Calpe, the 
shattered temples of Athens, or the gigantic frag- 
ments of Rome ; but when we wish to think of this 
dark personification as of a thing which is, where 

12 



134 TtfE CAMEL HUNT. 

can we so well imagine him to have his daily haunt, 
as by the roaring of the waves ?" 

In our own day we read of a sick child, who was 
carried to the seaside, and there, during his chilly 
rides, he looked upon the waves, and thought he 
heard sweet voices in their murmurings, calling him 
away to a brighter and better land. And it is also re- 
corded of a certain "willin'," but taciturn individual, 
in a more humble sphere of life, that, being upon his 
death-bed, his spirits rose and his life quickened 
with the rising of the waters; but when the turn 
came, he too fell back, and " Barkis went out with 
the tide." 

In this cool, shady, delightful spot, lazily con- 
versing, and still more lazily musing, we forgot the 
hours, and were quite taken by surprise when the 
schooner's boat hove in sight round a clump of 
rocks to the northward. 

A short, bluff man, with a brandy-and-water 
style of countenance, leaped on shore, and, inform- 
ing us that he was Smith, of the English schooner 
Success, inquired "What was the trade?" We 
asked him, in return, if he had fallen in with the 
Double Eagle. 

"That 1 have," said he, "and she's as safe 
as a thief in a mill, in charge of Her Britannic 
Majesty's frigate, the Undaunted, seized on suspi- 
cion of being engaged in the slave trade." 

" When did you speak her ? " 

"Yesterday, about noon, going through the water 
like a witch, bound to Isle of Sal Cape de Verds." 

Tom here came forward to ' surrender himself,' as 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 135 

he said, as being the unintentional cause of all this 
trouble; he having still the vessel's register, which 
he had playfully purloined from the Captain, on the 
occasion of our first visit to the Bashaw, in his 
pocket ! 

" And where are you bound, captain?" 

"Well, you see, I'm just on a trading voyage 
down the coast, and not bound anywhere in particu- 
lar. Now, I wouldn't mind going to Sal myself, if 
you'd make it an object." 

" What will you take us all over for?" 

"Lucre?" inquired he. 

"Lucre," said the major, with great dignity. 

"Well, seein' as 'taint a barter trade, say fifty 
pound." 

"Agreed" — and right glad were we with this 
prospect of getting out of the scrape. 

Vinal assured us that he was acquainted with the 
officers of the Undaunted, and that we should have 
no difficulty in recovering our vessel, if we were 
fortunate enough to fall in with her again. Our 
captain and the major were not for letting them off, 
however, on the mere delivery of the brig, and 
Uncle Jim was even fixed in a resolve to make a 
national affair of it. We then shook hands with 
Vinal, thanking him again and again for his kind- 
ness, and receiving from him a promise to meet 
us on our return to Mogadore, we embarked. On 
looking back from the schooner's deck, we saw him 
and his attendants strike the flag-staff, and move off 
with the camels on their way back to Wed-noon. 
Before sundown the chalky cliff was invisible. We 
were "once more upon the waters." 



CHAPTER XIV. 



ISLE OF SAL. 



We were certainly in a novel position as adven- 
turers, and a somewhat unpleasant one withal. 
Japhet in search of his Father, Keeper in search of 
his Master, and Coelebs in search of a Wife, were 
mere children at play, compared with us. We had 
lost every thing on which the success of our project 
depended. The link which connected us with our 
own country, and all dear to us in the past, and 
promised to unite us to what we most hoped for in 
the future, was suddenly cut off. We were in the 
most perplexing and paradoxical situation imagin- 
able — voyagers by sea without a vessel. 

Supposing the wind were to die away, or come 
out ahead, what a dilemma ! For in all proba- 
bility the Undaunted would not remain long at the 
Isle of Sal; or at any rate, the Double Eagle would 
be dispatched to England in charge of a prize-mas- 
ter, or, what would be as bad for us, St. Helena. 
Then we should be in a nice position in that far 
land, and at home how supremely ridiculous would 
we appear ! And the camels, — Zahara, and the Bar- 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 137 

bary States, would never be any the poorer for all 
the specimens of that useful animal, that we would 
ever deprive them of. The major positively scowled 
as these thoughts passed through his mind, and the 
rest of us were by no means sociably disposed. 

We were half inclined to berate Tom soundly for 
his reckless folly in carrying off the vessel's register, 
but he seemed so sorry for the offence that we could 
not do it. After all his disposition was so childlike 
and cheerful, that we easily forgave follies which 
seemed only the natural result of light-heartedness. 

The wind 'however continued favorable, and we 
had plenty of it for the whole passage, and all our 
discomforts were at once forgotten, when on the fifth 
day we made the Lion's Head, a high bluff forming 
the southwest confine of Martinez Bay, in Salt Island. 
At about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, with a fresh 
northeaster, we rounded this point and came in 
sight of some half dozen vessels at anchor in the 
bay, among which, to our most grateful delight, we 
were not long in recognizing the Double Eagle. Our 
anxiety had been so intense, that when it was thus 
pleasantly relieved, our joy was proportionably 
great, and all future possible annoyances seemed 
unworthy even of a thought. Tom was not only 
completely reinstated in our good graces, but we 
rather liked him the better for having furnished us 
this little episode in the camel hunt. 

We remarked that all the shipping were decorated 
with flags, and that the low white houses and flag- 
staffs ranged along the sandy beach were also rich 
in this particular. The people on shore too, as well 
12* 



138 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

as we could distinguish at a distance, seemed to be 
sauntering rather listlessly about. The captain sug- 
gested that it was some " confounded Saint's day," 
and that of course no work was to be done while it 
lasted. 

We were heading direct for our recovered vessel, 
but I ventured to observe that perhaps we should 
do better to go on shore first and learn something of 
the nature of the case from our consul. This prop- 
osition met with no favor whatever, and we soon 
had the exquisite pleasure of being boated alongside 
of our own little beauty, and scrambling uncere- 
moniously to her deck. We found her in possession 
of a strong force. 

At the gangway stood a stout, good-natured look- 
ing Englishman, in the undress of a lieutenant or a 
past midshipman, who welcomed us cordially, and 
escorted us aft, where, beneath the awning, was 
another taller but equally good looking officer, of 
apparently a higher grade, holding a book in his 
hand, in the reading of which we had unexpectedly 
interrupted him. "Gentlemen," said the latter, bow- 
ing gracefully, and introducing himself as Charles 
Rothery, lieutenant of Her British Majesty's ship, 
the Undaunted, " [ am glad to see you — your arri- 
val is certainly as agreeable as it is unlooked for." 

Our captain here stepped forward, and having 
made himself known, presented us in turn to her 
majesty's officer. 

"Major Wallack, of the Texas rangers." 

"Mr. Tom Eddington," 

"Second corporal of the Pizerinctum Guards," 
added Tom. 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 139 

" Mr. Joseph Warrener, the last named owner of 
the American brig Double Eagle, seized, it appears, 
piratically, by a vessel purporting to be the British 
ship Un — un — ; what may I call her name, sir?" 
bowing with much solemnity. 

"Undaunted," replied the officer, smiling at the 
brusquerie of our captain; "I see we were in error, 
and we shall make the proper apologies as soon as 
we can have an understanding. Gentlemen," contin- 
ued he, turning to us with a bow and smile that was 
peculiarly winning; "please to feel assured of my 
sincere regret at this occurrence; my friend Comp- 
ton and I are perfectly convinced that we are in the 
wrong, and hesitate not in saying that you will soon 
explain some trifling irregularity in the documents 
of this vessel, to our entire satisfaction. In the 
mean time," turning again to the captain, "may I 
beg of you to consider us as your guests?" 

I looked at the major, he was perfectly bewil- 
dered. Rothery had knocked the savagery com- 
pletely out of him. The first tones of his voice had 
somehow struck a sympathetic cord in the major's 
bosom, and it was of no use to keep on that sternness 
of feature. They were old friends at the moment. 

Neither could the captain withstand him. His 
determination to make " a national affair of it," was 
the most obsolete of things. "Blast it, lieutenant," 
said he, as he grasped Rothery's hand with hearty 
good will, "you do the thing up slick. I wish there 
were a few more of the sanae sort in the service. 
But come, this is dry work. Let's have a plank 
athwart the binnacle here, and try some lunch. 
Steward, bring on the fixings." 



140 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

The steward was not forthcoming, and I now 
remembered seeing him forward amongst the crew 
when we came on board, and remarking a very 
comically frightened look which he wore. The 
board however was arranged by the cook, and sub- 
stantially covered with cold ham, sardines, bread 
and cheese, brandy and beer — to which the captain 
shortly added a couple bottles of champagne. 

A pleasanter social hour I never passed, and two 
finer specimens of "good fellows," than Compton 
and Rothery, I cannot call to mind in the circle of 
my acquaintance. 

Tom, it was evident, piqued himself not a little 
on having been the means of introducing us into 
such pleasant society, and soon found an opportunity 
of alluding to it, in connection with the trick which 
he had played off on "old Ebony." 

" That explains the matter of the register excel- 
lently well," observed Rothery, "but there is still a 
slight mystery about the other papers of the ship. 
Nothing could be found giving any light upon her 
voyage but the log-book. 

" Why," replied the captain, "all my papers were 
certainly in my chest, and the key was also there. 
There would have been no impropriety in showing 
you those documents in the absence of a register, 
and on board a craft so particularly saucy in the cut 
of her jib." 

" Your first officer looked every where, but with- 
out success." 

" There is indeed a mystery here," said the cap- 
tain, " which is worth solving. I must look into it. 
Steward ! " 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 



141 



Still no steward appeared. 

"Your steward/' observed Compton, cc rather 
favored our suspicions, and even alluded to himself 
as a sort of decoy." 

"I'll decoy him," muttered the captain, "but not 
now, not quite yet." 

" Then all your water casks," continued Compton, 
" your ropes and braces for slinging the camels on 
board, your lumber for stalls which by the way was 
the strongest evidence against you, the last slaver 
which was seized, having been fitted in a very sim- 
ilar way, owing to a philanthropic notion which 
the respectable gentlemen in this business have, that 
it pays to bring the poor devils up to air by turns. 
This, united with the fact of your first officer's being 
a foreigner, and having no ' protection,' as you term 
it, seemed to warrant a temporary detention of your 
vessel." 

"We will consider it settled in that way," said 
the captain, " and now allow me to ask what is the 
meaning of this display of flags, since it seems our 
arrival was unexpected?" 

"Another thing to be explained. To-day is the 
anniversary of Baron Martinez' birth. The baron, 
be it known, is the great man of this island, owning, 
in fact, the whole of it; and to-night he gives a 
grand ball. The Queen of Gambia is to be present. 
We shall see that your invitations come off in due 
style this afternoon. The baron will be delighted 
to have the addition of a few more uniforms to the 
attractions of his house." 

"And when do you sail?" asked the captain. 



142 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

" To-morrow morning, for Mogadore. At least 
that was oar intention, in order to be back early with 
the brig and give her owners a chance to reclaim 
her. I see no reason for changing our determina- 
tion, unless, indeed, you propose remaining here a 
few days, in which case we will undertake to show 
you some of the points of interest in the place." 

"We must leave to-morrow, and as we sail 
together, we will have a chance to try our speed." 

"The Undaunted never has been beaten," re- 
marked Rothery, drily. 

"And the Double Eagle never can be beat," an- 
swered Uncle Jim with equal brevity. 

A playful bet, consisting of a dinner at Vinal's, to 
be provided by the losing vessel was taken, and our 
new made friends prepared to leave us. With many 
mutual civilities they descended to their boat, taking 
with them some dozen man-of-war's-men belonging 
to their craft, and promising to see us at Martinez' 
in the evening, pushed off. 

As soon as they were gone, the captain went be- 
low to look for his papers. They were not in his 
chest. After hunting for some time, they were found 
among some rubbish in the steward's locker. He 
returned to the deck and sung out for the unfortu- 
nate Stephen. 

" Steward in the fore cross-trees," returned a voice 
from the forecastle. 

There he was crouched, no bad representation, 
certainly, of a runaway slave, shaking with fear. 

" Keep cool, captain," observed the major calmly, 
coming up out of the cabin with a Kentucky rifle, 
" I'll plug him." 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 143 

"And before we could remonstrate, he had levelled 
at the now shrieking darkey. 

"Spring for dear life," shouted the major, "or by 
the great Jupiter, I shall singe your black wool to a 
mortal and eternal certainty ! " 

The whole thing was the affair of a minute. 
Stephen sprung with a yell just as the rifle sent forth 
its unerring ball. The hat received what the head 
barely missed of, and being lifted by the shock, 
slowly fell after its owner. A shout of derision from 
the crew accompanied the involuntary Sam Patch 
plunge of the steward, who, as soon as he arose 
again to the surface, struck out for the shore, dodg- 
ing occasionally below the ripples, when the major 
playfully pointed thitherward his empty rifle. 

I know not if he reached the shore, but if so, it is 
to be hoped that he still lives there, having taken to 
himself a wife, and engaged in the patriarchal occu- 
pation of rearing sons and daughters. One thing is 
very certain, we saw him no more. 



CHAPTER XV. 



BARON MARTINEZ. 



During the afternoon we sat together under the 
awning, cool and quiet enough after the exciting 
events of the morning. We were anchored but a 
short distance from the Undaunted, and could easily 
have conversed with her officers by the aid of a 
trumpet. She was a beautiful specimen of naval 
architecture, and looked lordly and truly Britannic 
among the merchantmen about her. The prospect 
on shore was not decidedly picturesque. The island 
is nearly one entire sand bank, with scarce vegeta- 
tion enough in the few rocky bluffs, which exist at 
rare intervals along its coast, to afford a scanty sub- 
sistence to a few miserable goats, and a small 
million of haggard lizards, evidently the only ani- 
mals native of the soil. Rain seldom falls; years 
even elapsing without the sign of a shower. The 
entire produce of the island is salt, which is made by 
the evaporation of ocean water, pumped into salinas 
or salt-pits constructed for the purpose, all of which 
facts we learned in the course of our afternoon walk 
on shore. 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 145 

One will readily believe then, that the view of 
such a place from the sea would be any thing but 
inviting. From our earliest days we associate with 
the idea of tropic scenery, all that is greenest and 
most luxuriant in vegetation, the palm, the orange, 
the tamarind, the mango, iutermingled with the 
more delicate and lesser foliage of the annatto, the 
clove, coffee and pepper trees, and the beautiful cot- 
ton plant, to say nothing of the thousand rare species 
of flowers of every form and shade of grace and 
comeliness, on which we seldom bestow more than a 
passing glance; so natural do they seem to the 
climate and soil. And to think of a residence in a 
burning clime which lacks all these refreshing appli- 
ances, is rather preposterous. However, there was 
the island — Salt Island — as bare and unpicturesque 
as the sands of Cape Cod. A few rods from the shore 
was a row of two-story houses, tapering to houses of 
one-story on one side, most of them cleanlily white- 
washed, and the larger having verandas in front. 
There were several flags displayed from these 
houses, among which I noticed an immense Portu- 
guese one, from the central and largest house in the 
group, and also the British, American, Brazilian, and 
Spanish. Two or three straggling flag-staffs were 
adorned in like manner with the Portuguese flag. 

Towards the latter part of the afternoon, our invi- 
tations were duly received from the eldest son of the 
old baron, who came off in a sloop boat. He also 
invited us to go on shore with him and take a walk 
as far as the salinas, returning in season to take tea 
13 



146 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

with his father, who occupied the large house with 
the large flag in the centre of the settlement. 

As the baron's son suggested the possibility of our 
being upset in the rollers going on shore, we packed 
our evening bravery in water-proof trunks, and lost 
no time in setting out. Tom, however, preferred 
taking the ship's boat and running the risk of a 
capsize, as he said he should be on shore and have 
time to dry himself twice, before we got there. He 
did get on shore first, and he did get capsized, but he 
did not have time to dry his clothes at all, before we 
arrived, though he did make his wet state an excuse 
for taking two glasses of brandy before tea. 

We were landed on the natives' shoulders in a 
highly picturesque manner, the ladies having an 
evident desire to scream, and being prevented only 
by the large number of people in waiting to receive 
us. The old baron was there amongst the rest, a 
decrepid looking old man, with a very sallow com- 
plexion, gray hair and moustaches, and sunken, but 
still bright eyes. He was dressed in a pair of white 
pantaloons, very small and rather short, a long brown 
frock coat, made, probably, in Ann street, Boston, 
and a high-crowned, narrow-brimmed black hat. 
His shirt, stockings, and vest, were white and spot- 
less. He was smoking a short pipe when we landed, 
and as he was always smoking the same whenever 
I saw him afterwards, it may be properly introduced 
as a part of his costume. 

We were presented by Tom, who was already on 
the best of terms with the old baron, having drunk 
twice with him since his arrival, and then at the 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 147 

suggestion of the baron's son, accompanied by the 
Brazilian consul, a Frenchman by the name of La- 
grange, and a Captain Jill of a Portland barque in 
the bay, moved off towards the salt-works. I recol- 
lect distinctly walking with the old baron, and find- 
ing it very difficult to keep from laughing at the 
droll attempts made by captain Jill to talk with the 
Frenchman in his native tongue, which consisted in 
saying "wee" to every thing the Frenchman said, 
and then speaking bad English in a very loud tone, 
interspersed with such ambiguous expressions as 
"star bono," "mucho freeo," and " wooley woo 
kickshins." 

Nothing particular occurred after we got to the 
salt-works. They were a very simple affair in them- 
selves, being nothing more than pits cut in the sand 
into which the salt water was poured by machinery 
worked by hand. Along side of the pits was a pile 
of salt big enough to load a hundred ships, according 
to the baron's estimate. From this pile there was a 
railroad to the beach, worked by mules, which gave 
quite a civilized appearance to the barren waste. 
Captain Jill and Tom were a little disappointed in 
not finding a bar at the salt-works, but we had a 
pleasant walk notwithstanding. 

At tea we got along very well. The baron put 
his short pipe along side of his plate, and occasion- 
ally took it up during the repast, to have a whiff or 
two, probably to prevent the fire from going out. 
There was quite a party of us. The baron's pos- 
terity was well represented by two sons and three 
unmarried daughters. The Brazilian consul and his 



148 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

wife, also a daughter of the baron's, were there, and 
there too, " in beauty like the night/' was the illus- 
trious Queen of Gambia. 

I was particularly struck with the appearance of 
the baron's youngest daughter. In features they 
were all three alike, having the same classic profile, 
and languid eyes and lashes which I had remarked 
in the baron and his eldest son. They were all 
handsome girls, although in our northern drawing- 
rooms, the tropic tint, which in them was strongly 
marked, might, by some, be deemed a blemish. But 
there was something about the youngest that was 
singularly unique. I cannot easily describe what it 
was. She was gay, but her thoughts did not seem 
to linger and be satisfied with her gaiety. She was 
very easy and graceful, and yet every movement 
seemed somehow or other a forced one, as if she felt 
upon her limbs certain restraints which the eye saw 
not, as if she would be infinitely more graceful if 
this something did not oppress her. But it was not 
her manner that impressed me so strangely. Her 
countenance was the most incomprehensible, per- 
plexing, yet interesting one that I ever saw. It had 
never two expressions alike, but changed moment- 
arily ; and her eyes seemed as restless as the wind, 
and to my seeming looked farther away from where 
we sat than I believed it possible for human eyes to 
do. Her complexion was more clear and transpar- 
ent than her sisters', which, united with the slender 
elegance of her form, and a peculiar manner in 
which her jet black hair was brushed away from the 
beautiful outline of her face, gave her an airy, fawn- 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 149 

like aspect. My wife joked me a little on my close 
observation of this island beauty, and said she was 
just the kind of feminine mystery for a madcap ad- 
venturer to fall in love with. She was, nevertheless, 
ready to acknowledge that she was an interesting 
study, but said she seemed to her more like a timid 
bird just caged than any thing human. 

After tea the ladies retired to dress, and the baron 
having resumed his pipe, and furnished cigars for 
the rest of us, we went out on the veranda to smoke. 
It was a clear, beautiful night. The sky was with- 
out a cloud, and thickly covered with stars, that 
never twinkled more brightly. The old ocean looked 
so placid and serene, stretching away off to the 
dark blue horizon, with the shipping in the bay like 
tiny specks upon its bosom, and the long yellow 
sandy beach was so clean and inviting in the rich 
glimmer of the young moon ! It was a picture 
of tranquillity, that was soothing as well as imposing 
in its grand and simple sublimity. How on such 
evenings are our thoughts prone to wander back to 
our friends, wherever they may be, but only because 
we wish them to be with us. We think of them 
with a quiet regret, that they should be away, for at 
such times our souls seem larger and more teeming 
with affection than usual, and we feel that we can 
love better than ever. And it seemed to me then 
that I had done the desolate island some wrong in 
my first opinion of it, so, by way of atonement, I 
observed to the old man, who was smoking by my 
side, that the view was a delightful one, and that in 
the quiet flow of life, amid such primitive scenes, 
13* 



150 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

there must be more real happiness, than in the false 
and fevered stir of cities. 

"Humph!" said the venerable consumer of the 
weed, and as he continued smoking for some time 
without speaking further, I supposed it was intended 
as a rebuke to my sentiment. 

" We can bear it," he said at length, " and we do 
bear it," — here his voice assumed a hissing sound, 
and he almost glared at me out of his bright eyes, as 
if angry because I had discovered his secret, — "we 
do bear it, I say, for the sake of money." 

I saw that I was in his confidence, evidently un- 
willingly to him, and had only to utter some com- 
monplace expressions of surprise, at the confession 
of such a ruling principle in one situated as he was, 
when he continued as I expected he would, — 

"Yes, young man, you, doubtless, think me happy 
in my independence. I am rich ; I have my family 
about me, and my retainers, who would go through 
fire and blood to serve me. What you see on this 
island is mine — accomplished and acquired by my 
industry and perseverance. It is a position which 
should be an easy and happy one. But the story 
that it keeps repeating to my mind is any thing but 
pleasant. I cared as little for money once as you do 
now, or any of those madcap officers of the Un- 
daunted. I was rather a wild boy, and obstinate 
and capricious, but not bad. When I stopped to 
think, 1 know my thoughts were never bad ones. 

"I was the second son, and my mother's favorite. 
My father, too, liked me, and I thought was proud 
of me for my very strong self-will. It was some- 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 151 

thing like his own. I married young — at the age 
of nineteen — against the wishes of both. That I 
was never sorry for. My mother, when she came 
to know my wife, loved her as a daughter, and my 
father was never so happy as when our first child 
called him by the affectionate name of grandpa. 
My brother and I never interfered with each other, 
and were always friendly. I had a sister younger 
than myself, who loved me second only to my 
mother, and whom I loved in return with a purer 
intensity than I ever experienced towards any thing 
else human. We were a happy family. 

"But after I had been married about four years, my 
mother died. I was away from home at the time, 
travelling with my family. On my return they 
showed me her grave; and my father, with his 
manly eyes overflowing, told me how peacefully she 
died, and gave me her parting message. I was still 
happy, though a sombre shadow hung over my life 
and prospects, when I thought that the sweet face 
which had always a smile and a welcome for her 
truant boy, and the breast on which my head had 
never wearied of lying, even till manhood, was now 
mouldering in the ground upon which I trod. But 
1 was happy, for I knew that she was so, and I knew 
that she never tired in her love for me to the last. 
My father seemed to like those of us who were left 
better than ever, and my children were never oat of 
his fond arms. 

" I was a restless fellow then, and could not remain 
long at home. This time we were absent about a 
year. When we returned we went first to the old 



152 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

mansion. There was a new face and a new order 
of things established there. My father was married 
again. This was bad enough. The old house could 
never be the same to me again. I soon saw that I 
was not to be the favorite I had been. I didn't mind 
this either. But when I witnessed in this new love 
of my sire's old age, a forgetfulness of his past affec- 
tions, — when I saw him so wrapped up in his at- 
tentions to this (to me) strange woman, that even 
the darling prattle of my little ones failed to interest, 
and seemed rather to annoy him, — it was as if my 
eyes were opened for the first time in my life to the 
miserable infirmities of our common nature. 

" Again I went abroad, and again I came home to 
find the greatest change of all,— my father was 
dying. I was in time to receive his blessing. My 
children were all with him, and he seemed to love 
them as before. The film which the strange woman 
had made creep over the eyes of my dear old parent 
was withdrawn, and he saw and loved us as in our 
happier days. He died like a brave old eagle in his 
eyrie, with his young about him, and he sleeps now 
by the side of his first, and I am sure, his only love. 

" Well, what followed is worst of all. This wo- 
man's character came to light. She was a merce- 
nary wretch. She and my elder brother contrived to 
keep a tight grasp of my father's property. I didn't 
care much for this, as long as 1 had what I wanted, 
and saw my sister well provided for. At length I 
was refused money. Now, reared as I had been, — 
accustomed to have every wish gratified as soon as 
expressed, — this want was galling enough. But I 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 153 

lived along for a while receiving what was given 
me; while my brother, who had no family, launched 
out into the wildest speculations. I was embarrassed 
and shunned; he was opulent and courted. I never 
received any statement of affairs from him. I 
never dared trust myself to ask for any. I wished 
to believe, and I do believe that there was no wrong 
intention, and perhaps no wrong any way, for I 
could not bear, of all differences, to have any with 
my own blood, so mean as that of money. My 
sister, poor little fool that she was, was completely 
under the dominion of our stepmother, and I thought 
that her kind, loving spirit would plead silently for 
her rights better than all the language in the world. 
So I never interfered. 

" With my sensitive temperament this state of 
things could not last. To practise economy was 
a hateful task to me. My old home had become 
more distasteful than ever. I resolved to make a 
new one. One evening, — I was at the old house 
for the last time, — some unpleasant conversation on 
the subject of money had taken place between my 
stepmother, my brother, and myself. We were none 
of us angry, but we were decided in maintaining the 
parts we had taken. I told them that never in the 
future would I cross their path, — that I would go 
away, and in new scenes would forget the past, that 
I would act on the bitter knowledge I had acquired, 
and one day become rich, no matter at what sacri- 
fice. I thought at that moment, that perhaps some 
time my brother might be differently situated from 
what he was then, and might come to me for aid. 



154 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

Then would be the moment for my revenge, when, 
from my hoards, I would pour upon him a deluge of 
the dross which I despised. I kept this thought to 
myself, and, without a sigh or murmur, bade them 
farewell, not thinking that it was forever. 

"It was a fine, clear winter night; I shall never 
forget its quiet beauty, so at variance with my own 
unrest. 1 remember well pausing for a moment in 
the avenue of old trees which led away from my 
father's house, and looking back. The fine old 
building in its towered and pillared beauty never be- 
fore wore to my eye an aspect so magnificent and 
solemn. While I stood there a light came into my 
sister's chamber, and I knew she had gone thither 
to pray for me. I half resolved to turn back for her 
sake, but it was too late. 

" Well, we came here, no matter how or why. 
Fortune has favored me ever since, so far as money 
is a favor. You will see what the place is. It is all 
mine, and I have ten times more value elsewhere; 
but it is turned into a curse, and I am miserable in 
proportion as my gains increase. I tremble to think 
of what I am to leave to my children, and I love the 
dust too well in my wretched dotage to part with a 
grain unnecessarily. 

" My brother failed in some mad speculations and 
was ruined. I knew nothing of it till he had died 
by his own hand. My sister was ruined with him ; 
and the gold that I sent her reached Portugal after 
she too had died, and died of want. What a mock- 
ery then was wealth ! As mine increased, it seemed 
like a weight pressing me to the earth. I thought 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 155 

to love it for the great and generous deeds it would 
enable me to perform, and I have come to love it for 
itself. The time has come for my revenge, but there 
are none left to feel it, and I have no heart to take it 
upon strangers. 

" And my sons and daughters, — they may one 
day feel, as my father's children felt. The passion 
for acquiring may spring up in their souls, and turn 
to ashes every other feeling. Oh, God ! to think 
that even the little Francesca, the child of my old 
age, she who is now like what her mother was when 
1 first saw her, so pure and innocent, though wild 
and tameless as a seagull, already suffers the curse 
unconsciously, in what she is denied. Is this sand- 
bank a fitting home for her, who should be the 
admired star in European saloons, and is by nature 
qualified to take a proud place among the fairest and 
most gifted ? But I dare not send her there, for she 
is inexperienced and rich. So she lives here, and 
even her riotous mirth and bounding happiness op- 
presses me, when I sometimes think of how she will 
change when she knows that she has been deprived 
of all for which young hearts beat high, and which 
woman's soul so dearly loves, — and knows that my 
cowardice and avarice have done it ! 

"There is a good deal more that I think of, but 
never mind ; it is no time to discuss these things 
now. Young man, what I have said keep to your- 
self. Perhaps it may be of use to you ; but never 
speak of it to others. For my part, I must forget 
these things, to-night at least." 

The old man and I were alone on the gallery 



156 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

when he finished speaking. His earnest manner had 
kept me a patient listener. Much that he had said 
commanded my respect, and the feeling which he 
showed, when he alluded to his mother and sister, 
won my love. He was much better than he gave 
himself credit for ; on that account I have seen fit 
to disregard his request, and introduce his story into 
this narrative. 

His remarks about his youngest daughter inter- 
ested me exceedingly, and I began to think I had 
some clue to her character. How strange, too, that 
he should have likened her to a bird, as my wife 
had done. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



THE BALL, 



The ball-room was a large apartment, brilliantly 
lighted, and brightly ornamented with flags, pictures, 
and artificial flowers. Several large mirrors reflected 
its splendors in great profusion, as well as the dash- 
ing uniforms and belles toilettes of the assembled 
revellers. The hall opened upon a veranda on 
each side, beyond which was seen distinctly, on the 
one part, the long sandy desert, reaching to the 
horizon, and on the other, the equally placid ocean. 
It was certainly a gay picture in its vast and simple 
setting, creditable to the baron's family, and partic- 
ularly creditable to the island where it was pro- 
duced. 

The officers of the Undaunted were there in 
great force. The Frenchman was decidedly brilliant 
in full ball costume, u a la grande mode de Paris." 
Captain Jill was on hand, too, navigating loosely 
about in a short-waisted blue frock coat, and an 
immensity of well -starched shirt-collar. There was 
a peculiarity about the captain's arrangement of his 
hair, which was either a new fashion or a very old 
14 



158 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

one; and on this ground I may be pardoned for allud- 
ing to it. The top of his head was entirely bald, but his 
hair grew long upon the sides, and on this occasion 
was brushed up and twisted over the bald portion, 
(not, however, so thoroughly but that certain bare 
places were still visible between the streaks,) making 
a kind of rooster-like comb in the centre, and giving 
him the appearance of a ferocious dunghill. If this 
arrangement possessed no other merit, it served in 
this instance to display to fine advantage a huge 
pair of blood-red ears. 

If, among the ladies, the baron's daughters were 
remarkable for beauty, the Queen of Gambia and 
her sable attendants were no less conspicuous for the 
opposite little failing. Her Majesty, however, was 
a fat, good-natured Ethiopian, and if the circle of 
her admirers was rather limited, it was probably 
owing to the sultriness of the weather. She was 
attired in white, with a gay blue and white silk 
handkerchief twisted round her head, and a sash of 
the same colors tied about her waist. Her orna- 
ments were heavy, plain, and all of the intrinsic. 
There was gold in profusion, but there were "none 
so poor as to do it reverence." 

After paying my respects to the baron and his 
worthy lady, I shaped my course towards a corner, 
where were the two younger daughters of the baron, 
Compton, Rothery, Tom, and an officer of the 
British frigate whom I had not previously seen. He 
was a trim built fellow, with a frank, handsome 
countenance, rather square, and set off with a pair 
of truly British whiskers. There was a dare-deviltry 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 159 

in his eye and mien, positively enchanting. Tom, who 
knew him well, of course, having been acquainted 
nearly ten minutes, introduced him as the "doctor." 

"A trump," whispered Tom in my ear, admiring- 
ly; " knows pork from a side of sole leather, and is 
to sing a song at supper, ' composed expressly for the 
occasion,' by that poetical-looking gentleman yon- 
der." 

The gentleman alluded to was a tall, thin, melan- 
choly-looking individual, with long, straight black 
hair, a beardless, sallow face, and a drooping, but 
rather pleasant eye. He seemed to be taking no part 
in the amusement of the evening, but, like Lara, 
smiled pensively on the gay crowd. He made up 
for this inaction, however, at supper, where he 
entered fully into the ceremony of eating and drink- 
ing. He was dressed, like the doctor, whose surname, 
by the bye, was Hapgood, in the costume of a civil 
officer in the British navy, and I was afterwards 
presented to him as Purser Sly. 

"I say, Jill," sung out Hapgood, drawing atten- 
tion to the adventurous captain, who was laboring 
across the room under a press of shirt-collar, 
evidently in the conviction that the queen and her 
row of attendants was an ugly lee shore, to be 
clawed off from, if possible; "Jill, allow me to 
inquire if you would n't go along easier by taking a 
reef or two in your flying skysails?" 

"I declare," observed Francesca, "you are too 
bad, doctor. See, you have made the poor capitano 
jump so that he has cut his ear." 

"But he did it professionally," answered Tom; 
he wanted the job of sewing it up." 



160 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

"I am not so clear about that/' returned Hap- 
good; "I think he is pretty well sewed up already. 
But hark, here comes our captain, 'old Brevity,' as 
he is better known ; the fun '11 soon commence now. 
Ladies and gentlemen, hold your horses ! " 

A lumbering sound was heard upon the stairs, 
as of a heavy man getting up with difficulty, and a 
rough sailor voice warbling loudly the sweet but 
melancholy chanson of 

" Pretty Polly Parton, she was a damsel gay," 

A short, thick-set, unmistakably jolly-looking 
individual entered, in the full dress uniform of a 
British navy captain. He marched up to the baron 
with a certain man-of-war dignity, and premising 
with a bow to his lady that he was "hers to com- 
mand," slapped the venerable nobleman vigorously 
on the shoulder, with a hearty "Well, old boy, how 
goes it to-night; never better, eh?" He then thrust 
his hands deep into his side-pockets, shrugged his 
shoulders a very little, and took a bird's eye survey 
of the company, with the air of a man on his own 
quarter-deck. Next he ventured within the charmed 
circle of the queen's influence. Here he was rather 
more respectful in his obeisance. 

" Upon the word of an old salt," said he, still 
bowing, " your majesty is looking charming this 
evening. With such allies as you and the Mosquito 
King, Victoria may make herself as comfortable as 
a duck in a mud-puddle." 

" You ver good, capitan," answered the fair lady 
of Gambia, "me likee English ver much ; you come 
Gambia, capitan, me gib you present plenty." 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 161 

" Brevity is the soul of wit," said the captain, 
looking round triumphantly. " While Robert Junius 
Brutus Julius Cassar Smilie lives, which he has 
good reason to hope he will do till he dies, your 
majesty may count on one old sea-dog who will bark 
and bite, too, if it comes to that, in her defence." 

" His name is plain Robert Smilie," observed 
Rothery, in explanation, "but he is always classic 
when at all under the influence of Bacchus. We 
shall soon have an allusion to the Pacha of Egypt, 
his great authority for every thing, but of whom he 
knows nothing but the name." 

The brave old captain, by this time, had spied out 
the youngest Miss Martinez in our group, and came 
over to join us. 

"Frank," said he, giving her hand a real sailor 
squeeze, " you saucy little witch, why did you wait 
for me to hunt you out? You used to take forcible 
possession, as soon as my likely countenance showed 
itself on the tapis. But you was a little disap- 
pointed this evening in its not proving to be somebody 
else, eh? a certain we know who, eh, Frank?" 

"You were so much occupied in paying your 
respects to the queen, that I was unwilling to 
interrupt you." 

"Mahomed Ali is the Pacha of Egypt," said the 
captain, by way of apology. "Discipline must be 
observed. I respect those above me in position and 
authority, and those beneath me have got to haul on 
the same greased pig-tail." 

" But I should have thought," said the elder Miss 
Martinez, " that a gentleman of your well-known 
14* 



162 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 



gallantry would have invited her majesty to a 
fandango." 

"Oh, do. captain," persisted Frank, "it will be so 
delightful." 

The captain, nothing loth to display his agility as 
a gay disciple of Terpsichore, returned to the queen, 
who accepted his polite invitation with a liberal 
display of ivory. 

Before taking the floor, however, the royal dame 
bent over and removed her shoes, and then com- 
menced deliberately taking off her stockings. 

" Heaven help us," said Hapgood, raising his 
hands in consternation at the sight, "she's going to 
undress." 

"I have heard," said Tom, "of going it with a 
perfect looseness, but had always supposed it to be a 
mere figure of speech." 

"Now don't feel too bad," said Frank, "it's a 
custom of the coast always to remove the shoes and 
stockings before dancing. They also take them off 
when caught out in a rain, and carry them home 
under their arms. But see, they are going to 
begin." 

"Strike up 'grog time o' day,'" called out the 
captain, with a menacing look at the musicians; 
and at it they went. 

Reader, if you have ever seen Fanny Ellsler or 
Taglioni, you have seen something very unlike the 
style of dancing practised by Captain Smilie and 
the Gambian Queen; but if you have ever seen two 
huge tapirs coming up from a bath in some reedy 
river, and shaking the water from their reeking 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 163 

sides in unwieldy gambols, you have seen some- 
thing similar. They kept at it while the perspira- 
tion rolled in rivers down their cheeks, and as the 
merriment of the spectators increased, so much the 
more seriously did they perform their parts. They 
seemed the very personification of the spirit of un- 
couth fun, which for the nonce was running riot in 
the crowd. "When the cat sleeps the mice may 
play," says the old proverb, and while their com- 
mander thus, like the eagle, renewed his youth, 
the boys of the ship made merry among themselves, 
according to their notions of amusement. 

" Go it while you 're young," said one. 

"Man smoking — put him out," said another. 

" Somebody catch Capt. Jill," said a third, " and 
take that brick out of his hat." 

Others addressed the queen by the democratic 
name of Sal, and kindly offered to hold her bonnet. 
The captain was encouraged to persevere by such 
cheering counsel as " Go it, old Brevity, never say 
die," "Hit him again, blue jacket," "Never mind 
the expense, have a good time while it lasts," and 
other delicate and refined expressions of advice. 

But every thing must have an end, and so did 
this fandango. Whether it was the musicians who 
got tired first, or not, I do not now recollect ; at any 
rate, the music and dancing ceased, and the heroic 
officer, not a little proud of his achievement, led the 
perspiring "cullud pussun" to her seat. 

After this the dancing commenced in good ear- 
nest — quadrille, contre dance, polka and fandango — 
and a gay time we had of it till midnight. There 



164 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

was a certain freshness about the scene, an unbridled 
spirit of enjoyment afloat, that was really delightful. 
There was no arriere pensee, no mauvais sens, 
to mock the glittering show. Every body seemed 
bent on enlarging to the utmost the area of fun, and 
certainly the very atmosphere was impregnated with 
its spirit. I could not help contrasting this little 
party of the islanders with some similar assemblies 
in other and prouder lands, and you may believe 
that the former suffered nothing from the contrast. 
"The spoony body of young gentlemen doing the 
attentive," immortalized in Charies O'Malley, were 
wanting. That interesting class of young men who 
hang about the door and discuss the amount of 
property supposed to be possessed by the several 
young ladies inside, were likewise absent. That 
agreeable coterie of matrons, known under the gen- 
eral head of manoeuvring mammas, were in a like 
situation with Brick, in the well known case of 
"Flour vs. Brick" — nowhere. And where was 
that unhappy class of youthful beauties, fair to look 
upon, but inwardly full of envy and jealousy, in 
whose breast the sight of a more costly jewel or a 
richer robe on the person of a rival is sufficient to 
create a very hell of evil passions? We had none 
of these. We were rather a motley crew, a little 
rowdy, if you will, but at all events we attained the 
object of our pursuit. Every body seemed to think, 
say, and do as they pleased, and no body thought of 
being offended at any thing at all. It was one of 
the few frank and free moments of my life, and as 
such I look back upon it with the sincerest pleasure. 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 165 

Even the poetical Mr. Sly enjoyed it in his peculiar 
way. ''Sir," said he to me, just before we were 
called to supper, " this is a delightful occasion. I 
am reminded of the song of the Dancers in Yendys' 
poem entitled the Roman. The spirit is here to- 
night, if some outward appliances are wanting. I 
can see no sacrilege in the quotation. 

" Sing lowly, foot slowly, oh, why should we chase 
The hoars that give heaven to this earthly embrace ; 
To-morrow, to-morrow is dreary and lonely, 
Then love as they love, who would live to love only ; 
Closer yet eyes of jet — breasts fair and sweet, 
No eyes flash like those eyes that flash as they meet. 
Weave brightly, wear lightly the love-woven chain, — 
Love on for to-night, if we ne'er love again : 
Fond youths, happy maidens, we are not alone, 
Bright steps and sweet voices keep pace with our own ; 
Love-lorn Lusignola, the soft sighing breeze, 
The rose with the zephyr, the wind with the trees, 
While heaven, blushing pleasure, is full of love's notes, 
Soft down the sweet measure the fairy world floats." 

The quotation was certainly not a very appropri- 
ate one. However, in a crowd, there is always a 
chance for a variety of sentiments. 

A little after midnight we descended to the supper- 
room. Where the display of fish, flesh and fowl, to 
say nothing of pastry, preserves, and fresh fruit un- 
der which the tables fairly bent, came from, is a mys- 
tery to me to the present moment. I presume some 
British steamer had been there within a few days, 
and had left many of these luxuries in ice. I am 
sure that I did not see double, and yet it would be 



166 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

much easier to tell what was not there, than what 
was. As for decanters filled with almost every 
known kind of wine, long-necked bottles, and square 
big-bellied bottles, with scarcely any neck at all, 
wine-glasses of every form, size, and color — these 
were thrust in wherever there was an opening of 
sufficient magnitude, and would, doubtless, have 
suggested to the mind of a temperance lecturer, no 
less a consummation than the end of the world. 

"Sly," said Hapgood beckoning to the purser, 
" you look hungry; now just place yourself in the 
middle of the table, and when you have eaten every 
thing within reach on both sides, you can move, you 
know." 

" This empty decanter," observed Captain Jill 
from the other end of the room, handing one which 
he had just finished drinking the contents of, to a 
slave to be filled, " was probably put on by mis- 
take." 

In the course of the toasts, one in honor of the 
British navy called up Captain Smilie, who made 
quite a characteristic speech. 

u ' Brevity is the soul of wit,' " prefaced the cap- 
tain. " I would rather see a man nervously brief, 
than eloquently diffuse. Mahomed Ali is the Pacha 
of Egypt, and Robert Junius Brutus Julius Caesar 
Smilie is commander of her Britannic Majesty's frig- 
ate the Undaunted. Julius Caesar is ready to obey 
all orders of his superiors, legal or illegal, and, Julius 
Caesar expects every body under him in authority 
to obey all his orders, legal, illegal, or otherwise." 

" The Merchant Service " brought out Captain 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 167 

Jill, — "I d'no," said the venerable navigator, " as 
I can make a speech. Fact is, I ain't much used to 
navigating on that tack. I 'm a web footer, genuine, 
and speaking of web-footers reminds me of a story, 
which seeing as I can't make a speech, I'll tell you 
on instead. 

" I was born in the State of Maine. When I was 
a boy, I went down to Kennebunk to see my uncle. 
4 John,' said he to me one day — my Christian name 
is John, and the boys at school used to make fun o' 
me on that account, sayin' as how I was Jack and 
Jill both, two indivvidooals in one, — well, my uncle 
said, says he, 'John,' says he, 'leave off sue kin' 
cider, and come and take a squint at my web-footed 
pigs.' Web-footed pigs, thinks I, I guess as how he 
don't want me a drinkin' up his cider, for I had my 
eye teeth cut jest about that time, and could see as 
fur through a millstone as any body, particularly 
when there was a hole in it. And I didn't believe 
in any such animals as web-footed pigs. However, 
thinks I, seein' is believin'. So I jest followed him 
round back of the old barn, and sure enough, there 
was a litter of nine little pigs, all web-footed like 
ducks." 

Some laughed, rather incredulously to be sure, 
others shook their heads waggishly, and said the 
old fellow was " hard to beat." Tom gave a low 
whistle, and requested to have the rules suspended 
for a moment while he favored the company with a 
story. 

u I was born," said Tom, " in the old Bay State. 
When I was a boy I went to see my uncle. He lived 



168 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

in the State of Arkansas, called down there ' Rack- 
ansaw.' { Tom,' said he to me one day, 'did you 
ever see a jointed snake?' 'No/ says I, 'what's 
that?' 'A snake,' says he, 'put together like my 
fishing-rod that I bought last summer in Orleans. 
You fetch him a lick, and he unscrews, and one joint 
goes one way, and another another, but they have an 
understanding where to meet and come together.' 
Thinks I, that 's a snake story. However, seein' is 
believin'. Well, one day I was out gunning, and I 
came across a tremendous snake coiled up in fine 
style. He was eyeing me rather too knowingly, when 
I fetched him over the head with the butt-end of my 
fowling-piece. Sure enough he began to unscrew, 
and came apart in thirty pieces. I thought I'd fol- 
low one. After going about half a mile it stopped in a 
bit of a clearing, and the twenty-nine other parts came 
in from different quarters at the same time, and fitted 
themselves together again, more neatly and quickly 
than uncle ever begun to fix his fishing-rod." 

After this of course there were no more stories. 

We were enjoying ourselves finely. The old bar- 
on's set included the ladies of our party, Compton, 
and Rothery. They were the conservative party. 
The royal party, comprising the major among others, 
were in the same neighborhood. They were also a 
quiet set. In fact the major was improving the op- 
portunity by getting information out of the queen 
about her own country, and the mysterious old city 
of Tombuctoo, which she had frequently visited, 
with a regal train of camels. The balance of us 
were outsiders, progress people, young England, web- 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 169 

footers, — any thing. It having got abroad among 
this latter class, that Hapgood was prepared with a 
song, loud calls for the same were heard in every 
part of the room, and silence having been restored 
by the spiritual rappings of Captain Smilie, the 
doctor, in a fine, clear voice, delivered himself as 
follows : — 

HAPGOOD'S SONG. 

When we left the shores of England, 

In the sunny days of yore, 
For to sail o'er distant oceans 

To a far and foreign shore, 
Oh, our hearts were sad within us, 

For we thought we ne'er should find 
Such brave and trusty hearts again, 

As those we'd left behind. 

CHORUS. 

Oh, every man's a fool, boys, 

Who hasn't crossed the line, — 
We've found a home in many a land, 

And friends in every clime. 

No doubt you all remember, 

When you were young and silly, 
Full many a stroll in New Bond Street, 

And lounge in Piccadilly ; 
You never dreamt of the Cape de Verds, 

Or heard of the Isle of Sal, 
Your geographical knowledge stopped 

On " the shady side of Pall Mall." 

CHORUS. 

Oh, every man's a fool, boys, &c 
15 



170 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

Britannia's a brave old lass/ 

And she'll do well enough, 
If, when all Europe goes adrift, 

She'll only keep her luff; — 
A good old mother she has been, 

But yet, my luckiest day, 
Was when I cut the apron strings, 

And tore myself away. 

CHORUS. 

Oh, every man's a fool, boys, &c. 

This remarkable effusion of Parser Sly's genius 
was received with rapturous applause. The only 
disadvantage arising from the applause being, that 
it was somewhat irregular, coming in occasionally 
at the conclusion of a stanza, and effectually drown- 
ing Hapgood's cry of chorus. Once Captain Jill 
made an effort to get up a hip-hip hurrah, in the 
middle of a verse, but was not successful, and being 
a little abashed at his failure, roared out lustily, on 
the chorus afterwards, breaking in fiercely just a 
line behind the rest. Nevertheless, Hapgood, who 
devoutly believed it to be the greatest song ever 
written, sang it with excellent grace, and as every 
one had a chance to assist, it operated precisely like 
the children's game of Hunt the Slipper, or Ladies' 
Toilet, and put us all in excellent humor. 

When Captain Smilie rapped on the board imme- 
diately after to call the attention of the company, a 
proposition was made to him to mount the table. 
But that efficient officer had weighter matters on 
his mind. " Ladies and gentlemen, " said he sol- 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 171 

emnly looking round, and evidently seeing nobody, 
"I move that the thanks of this crowd be tendered 
to Mr. Purser Sly, for the elegant song which he has 
composed for the occasion, and to Dr. Hapgood, for 
the agreeable manner in which he has sung the 
same; and allow me to add as a matter of personal 
opinion, that the song has merit, and one great merit 
in particular — it was nervously brief." 

Captain Jill next asked permission to tell a story, 
which being granted, he, with a genial forgetful- 
ness, repeated the tale of the web-footed pigs. 

On our return to the dancing-room we found a 
long table placed at one end. of the apartment, cov- 
ered with an immense set of tea-things. 

" What is the meaning of this, Frank?" inquired 
Captain Smilie. 

" We are going to have tea." 

"Tea, tea," said the captain, musingly. " I don't 
know as I understand. Tea — aye — yes. Tea 
you said, I think." 

" It is a production of China," observed Rothery. 

" Oh, that indeed," pursued the captain, still mus- 
ing, "but what do you do with it?" 

"Drink it," 

" Mr. Rothery," continued the captain, looking 
him solemnly in the face, " are you going to drink 
any, Sir ? " 

Rothery replied in the affirmative. 

"Then I will drink some," concluded the captain, 
clenching his fist with an air of awful determination. 
" Mahomed Ali is the Pacha of Egypt. Nobody 
shall say, that Julius Caesar Smilie was ever afraid 
to drink any thing that any body else drank." 



172 THE CAMEL HUNT, 

But a long ringing shout outside, as if the whole 
populace were excited by a feeling of uncontrollable 
joy, called us to the veranda, and the tea missed 
its market. 

" Viva ! " shouted Frank, pointing to a black cloud 
rising rapidly above the Lion's Head, and gradually 
overspreading all that quarter of the sky; " we are 
going to have such a glorious rain squall." 



CHAPTER XVII. 



A RAIN SQUALL. 



It was now nearly four o'clock, and the approach 
of rain was the signal for a general breaking up of 
the party. Uncle Jim went down to the beach with 
the officers of the Undaunted, to hail for our boat. 

They were all gone but our party. We were 
standing on the veranda, watching the cloud, 
which slowly but steadily came up from the deep, 
darkening an entire quarter of the heavens. The 
atmosphere was still and oppressive; a short, sharp 
streak of lightning occasionally shot across the 
pitchy surface of the cloud, revealing its outline more 
distinctly, and leaving a profounder gloom behind. 

Frank's spirits had been gradually rising since the 
first squally symptom showed itself; and, now, that 
there was the prospect of a smart gale, accompanied 
by thunder and lightning, they fairly effervesced, and 
she skipped restlessly from side to side, as if she only 
needed wings to fly away, and soar, and scream, 
and exult in the threatening war of elements. At 
length, unable to remain quiet any longer, she pro- 
posed to us to go over to the Lion's Head, where, 
15* 



174 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

she said, we should be nearer the storm, and see and 
feel it more in its wildness and grandeur than at 
home, shut up in the house. 

u 'Pa," said she, " has got a trunk of rubber cloth- 
ing, and we can rig ourselves up grandly, and no 
fear of catching cold. I always wear a rubber jacket 
when I am out boating." 

We acceded to Frank's proposition, not, however, 
without certain misgivings that we were getting 
ourselves into a scrape thereby. Enveloped in our 
rubber leggins, paletots, sacks, hoods and sow' west- 
ers, we looked more like a band of black friars going 
forth on some deed of midnight atrocity, than a 
party of dancers issuing from a ball-room. 

We took our way to the beach, led on by Frank, 
who knew the way in the darkness as well as by 
broad daylight. We followed the shore aJong till 
we came to a point of loose rocks, over which we 
were obliged to scramble to reach the long beach 
which connected the island with the Lion's Head. 
This was about a quarter of a mile in length, similar 
to the beach leading from the town of Lynn to Na- 
hant, but more level, and less removed above the 
surface of the sea. As we traversed this neck of 
land we felt the wind to be rising rapidly. The 
sky was almost entirely overcast, and it was only 
now and then, by the aid of a vivid flash of light- 
ning, that we were enabled to behold the path which 
the encroaching sea made momentarily narrower. I 
saw, that in a short time, if the wind increased, 
as there was every probability of its doing, the sea 
would make a complete breach over this sandy strip 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 175 

of soil, and effectually prevent our return to the 
island for some hours at least. The rain had com- 
menced falling in big drops, pattering upon our rub- 
ber coats like hailstones. The famous Lion's Head, 
to which we were making our delectable journey, 
afforded no prospect of a shelter, being nothing but a 
bluff steep promontory of bald rocks — a charming 
spot certainly to visit at four o'clock in the morning, 
in a dirty rain storm, after dancing all night. I 
must confess, that, for one, I felt particularly foolish, 
and did not see the wit of dragging ourselves off 
here to enjoy the storm, when we might have been 
snugly sheltered in the baron's hospitable mansion. 

But there was no help for it now. Indeed, before 
we reached the Head an occasional roller would 
break completely over the beach, " soaking our 
corns," as Tom observed, and bringing to our recol- 
lection queerly enough, Captain Jill's story of the 
" web-footed pigs." 

We clambered up the rocks with the best grace 
possible under the circumstances, and were no sooner 
seated, huddled together, in the forlorn hope of being 
cosy, than the " enjoyment" commenced in good 
earnest. The sky was of a pitchy darkness, the 
rain fell in torrents, the wind had increased to 
such an extent as almost to lift us bodily from our 
seats on the rock ; and the hoarse noise of the break- 
ers thundering against the cliffs on the windward 
side of us, was perfectly terrific. The thunder and 
lightning had possession of the upper air. By the 
broad sharp flashes of the latter we saw ourselves 
as on a desolate rock 5 with the ocean boiling and 



176 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 



raging around us, for no trace was left of the path 
by which we came. — all was a rolling, fretting, 
foaming sea. And the reverberations of the former 
resounded gloomily about the caves of our dreary 
rock, and then rolled heavily off to leeward, dying 
away on the far solitary waste, but leaving no inter- 
val of silence behind. 

" Isn't it grand?" exclaimed Frank gleefully 
after the most tremendous clap yet. " How free and 
happy one feels in such a scene, and how much 
nearer do we seem to the great Being who speaks in 
the thunder and rides on the whirlwind ! " 

u Oh, it's quite delightful," answered Tom, shiv- 
ering as if in an ague fit. "I think I could stay 
here for several days without eating. How are you 
enjoying yourself, major ? " 

The major's teeth chattered audibly, but he made 
an effort to express a hope that our rock would not 
be overflowed. 

Indeed there seemed to be some reason for fearing 
this, for the spray from the crashing breakers be- 
neath was already dashing at times upon our hoods 
and capes. 

Frank, however, assured us of the contrary, and 
besides she said we could go whenever we pleased. 

"Go !" uttered the major in consternation, and to 
confess the truth, we all began to have certain vague 
suspicions that Frank would turn out to be some- 
thing " uncannie" who had lured us thither for our 
destruction. Going from where we were seemed 
likely to be attended with the same results, as "go- 
ing " from the top of St. Paul's would be if somebody 
should cut away the staircase. 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 177 

We thought of our comfortable cabin on board of 
the Double Eagle, and our little ones sleeping tran- 
quilly in its pleasant state-rooms! 

Another flash of lightning lit up the scene, and 
presented to view a prospect which drew off our 
thoughts from our own situation. A long reef of 
high, sharp, black rocks extended southerly from the 
Lion's Head. These were usually bare, but now 
the sea was beating over them, leaving only their 
grim heads occasionally visible above the milky 
foam. A small boat with a reefed leg-of-mutton sail 
was seen trying to claw off from these rocks. There 
was only one man on board that we could see, 
who was tugging at his oars, cross-handed, in a des- 
perate effort to save himself. 

"The ninny! 7 ' exclaimed Frank petulantly, rising 
suddenly from her luxurious seat, "he '11 be lost! " 

The fearless girl divested herself of her cape and 
hood, and tying her white mantilla tight beneath her 
chin, left us before we could interpose any objection ; 
springing from cliff to cliff in the direction of the 
reef, with all the grace and agility of a fawn, while 
the ends of her mantilla fluttered in the wind like 
the wings of a bird. 

* We shuddered, for we thought she must be a spirit 
of the storm, or madly bent on self-destruction. 

The next flash showed her to us again fairly 
out upon the reef, swooping from rock to rock like a 
wild seagull, and within a few paces of the boat, 
now certain of destruction. 

"The bird! the bird!" exclaimed the major's 
wife, springing up and clapping her hands. "She 



178 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

will come back and bring the boatman, and we shall 
all be saved." 

A strange sensation thrilled through my mind as I 
recognized in the scene about us the exact counter- 
part of the vision which Mrs. Wallack had described 
to us during our journey to Wed-noon in our tent 
upon the desert. 

" All's well that ends well," piously ejaculated the 
major; " we shall see." 

We were too much excited to converse further, 
and waited eagerly for the next revelation. 

The next gleam was a short one, but during its 
continuance we saw the boat distinctly enough beat- 
ing upon the reef, but no signs of Frank or the 
boatman. 

We now held our breath in suspense, for another 
flash of lightning would confirm either our hopes or 
fears. It came, lighting the heavens from horizon 
to horizon with a glare like that of midday, and 
there was the gallant girl, leaping from rock to rock 
on her return, gleesome as a child at play or a bird 
upon the wing, followed bravely by a form there was 
no mistaking. 

" Glorious Dick Vinal ! by all that 's great," 
shouted the major, leaping to his feet and waving 
his cap enthusiastically above his head, " all's well 
now. With such pure spirits as Frank Martinez and 
Dick Vinal by our side, we may safely bid defiance 
to wicked. men, the devil and the elements ! " 

They were with us in a moment. Gratitude, ad- 
miration, love beamed in their countenances, as flash 
succeeding flash revealed them to each other; but 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 179 

their manner of expressing their feelings would have 
thrown Captain Smilie, in his partiality for brevity, 
into raptures. 

" Frank!" 

"Dick!" 

And they were locked in each other's arms. 

Oho ! thought I, here is one secret out at all 
events! 

" Come Dick," said Frank, extricating herself 
from his embrace, "no nonsense, but tell us where 
is the ' Bold Runner ; ' not lost, I hope ? " 

" She is safe enough at anchor in Shark Inlet," 
answered Dick. "I left her in charge of the men, 
and took my skiff, thinking to get round here in 
season to surprise you all." 

" And got surprised yourself," said Frank play- 
fully. "But never mind, the squall is over. Sup- 
pose we go now, or 'pa will begin to be anxious 
about us." 

" Go ?" observed the major, "oh, yes, certainly. 
I believe we are all quite ready, — but how?" 

" That is easy enough," answered Frank, "follow 
me." 

She led the way and we followed, not without 
difficulty, down a steep declivity of slippery rocks, 
to a snug little cove on the lee side of the bluff, 
where a surf-boat with five oars was riding snugly 
at anchor. 

"Now, then," said Frank, "you four gentlemen 
take your oars and I will steer, and mind, no crab- 
catching." 

The storm was now fairly over, and the sun was 



180 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

rising. Huge massive clouds, scattered like an 
army in retreat, were hurrying sullenly away to lee- 
ward, leaving large clear patches of blue sky in pos- 
session of the heavenly field. The sea, however, 
was still running high, and breaking over the beach 
which we had traversed a few hours before, and roll- 
ing in upon the sandy shore of the island in huge 
towering billows, that looked any thing but easy or 
safe to navigate. 

Frank noticed this, and as soon as we were fairly 
clear of the rock turned our boat's head towards the 
Undaunted, for the purpose, as she said, of getting 
a fresh set of oarsmen, feeling sure of a capsize if 
she trusted to our skill in rowing. I must acknowl- 
edge that she managed our skiff with the dexterity 
of an old salt, and soon brought us safe alongside 
of the frigate, lying in the rough roadstead, as firm 
and steady as if she were a slip of some old British 
headland that had drifted out there and come to 
anchor. 

We were received by Compton, who had the 
morning watch. He was too much accustomed to 
Frank's adventures to manifest any surprise, when 
we told him of the agreeable manner in which we 
had passed the morning. Vinal he received with the 
cordiality of an old friend, as indeed he was, and in- 
quired for his yacht, which it appeared was a famous 
craft along the whole coast. 

On descending to the cabin we found Captain 
Smilie up and shaving. 

" Mahomed Ali is the Pacha of Egypt," cried he 
jovially, on beholding us, " never more welcome. 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 181 

Vinal, my old boy, a little after the fair, eh ? — Ha, 
ha, ha ! Wet, is it 1 — well I 'm dry. We shall have 
brandy and coffee directly. That ? s a remedy for both 
complaints. Now, then, Frank, how does the old 
craft look, — any criticism this morning, eh ? " 

"The main-yard wants squaring a little," said 
Frank. 

U I guess as how she means the main-brace wants 
splicing, and not a bad idear either," said a husky 
voice from a state-room just behind us. 

" Jill," observed Compton in explanation ; " we 
brought him off last night, a little non compos. His 
mind has been running on web-footed pigs and 
jointed snakes ever since." 

" Aye," continued Captain Smilie, "this is his 
first rational observation. Mr. Compton, see that 
that main-yard is attended to, and we '11 look out for 
the main-brace afterwards." 

The invigorating old Java, the fresh pure air of 
the morning, the exercise we had had in rowing, 
the cheerful rays of the sun, all conspired to send a 
warmth and geniality through our frames, and uplift 
our flattened spirits. Captain Jill was produced with 
a very red and swollen face, and very small eyes. 
One side of his immense shirt-collar was completely 
down, while the other "lifted its awful form" as 
on the evening previous. His hair, no longer sleek 
and smooth, waved stringily towards all points of 
the compass. We readily believed him when he 
stated that he was "not wery well." After a glass 
or two of brandy, however, he revived, and sang a 

16 



182 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

comic Dutch naval song, of which I only recollect 
one verse. 

" Better as schnaps, me gives 'em cat, 
If tey do n't like it tey can lump it, 
And ven tey cries, ter mees a rat, 

Me hits him mit the spoken trompet." 

We learned from Vinal, that when we left Wed- 
noon, he had immediately gone up to Mogadore, 
where he found the Bold Runner on her return, and 
that he left at once for the Isle of Sal, where the sly 
dog had often been before, expecting to reach there 
in season for the ball. We expressed our fears to 
him that the attractions of the place would detain 
him there some time, and so cause a still further de- 
lay in our voyage, dependent as we now were upon 
him for aid to carry it out. 

u You may be sure that I shall not leave to-day 
or to-morrow either," said he, "but do n't be afraid; 
when you arrive in Mogadore you will see the Bold 
Runner safe at anchor." 

It was with heartfelt regret that we returned our 
rubber toggery to Frank with many thanks, and 
bade her a last good-bye. Then exchanging fare- 
well salutations with the rest of the party, we set off 
for the Double Eagle to make preparations for our 
departure. Frank's boat capsized in the rollers go- 
ing on shore, and the last I saw of her she was skip- 
ping up the beach, with Vinal in full chase, shaking 
the water from her white dress, like a bird with 
dripping plumes. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



RETURN TO MOGADORE. 



Our voyage back to Mogadore was much retarded 
by head winds and calms. On the thirteenth day 
we made the land, and shortly after, a sail was 
discerned to the southwest, which we judged to be 
the Undaunted. As the wind was from the north- 
ward, and we were directly to the westward of the 
island off Mogadore, we congratulated ourselves on 
having beaten the renowned British frigate. We 
had soon cause, however, to cease our too confident 
boasting, for on getting nearer to the shore we saw a 
rakish little pilot boat schooner stealing in under 
the land, already several miles to windward. We 
were not wrong in supposing this to be the Bold 
Runner. 

As Vinal had predicted, on entering the harbor we 
found his little craft quietly at anchor. A few hours 
afterwards the Undaunted swept majestically round 
the island, and having anchored, thundered forth a 
salute, which sounded like the growls of the levia- 
than, angry at being beaten. 

The next morning we called upon Vinal at his 



184 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

residence in the fortress. It was a fine, solid, 
spacious building, a few doors from the British 
consulate, and was furnished in a style of splendor 
becoming a millionaire. We inquired for Frank, 
and were pleased to hear that she had suffered no 
inconvenience from her morning promenade, but 
was quite well, and had sent her respects. 

We next went to the governor's, who received us 
as kindly as formerly, and expressed his sorrow for 
the treachery we had met with, and the loss we had 
suffered in consequence. He also congratulated us 
on having a friend in Mr. Vinal, who, he said, was a 
man of great influence in the country, perhaps 
second only to the emperor. " He is a good man," 
continued he, and we both love and respect him. 
He has done more towards removing our prejudices 
against the English and Americans than all other 
foreigners together." We were pleased to hear this 
opinion of Vinal from the bashaw, pleased and 
proud for our country's sake as well as for our own; 
for since the lively interest he had manifested in our 
enterprise, we had regarded him as "one of us." 
The bashaw then informed, us that the desired per- 
mission had been granted by the emperor, on the 
payment of a small export duty, and that as soon as 
we had selected and embarked our camels, no obsta- 
cles would be interposed to our departure. 

We afterwards called round to see our old friend, 
the Jew. He was profuse in his demonstrations of 
joy at our return, and I believe the old man was 
really glad to see us. His daughter also came in, 
and expressed her satisfaction at seeing us again. I 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 185 

thought I detected a slight change in her appearance, 
which had been wrought even during the short period 
of our absence. She was more shrinking and timid 
than before, and was a cast paler. I mentioned this 
to the old man, when he accompanied us to the 
lower door. He changed color, and said that he had 
also observed it, but offered no explanation of the 
cause. 

The few succeeding days were spent in the selec- 
tion and embarkation of the camels. In addition to 
the drove which Vinal had sent up from Wed-noon, 
a caravan of three hundred, also belonging to him, 
had arrived at Mogadore during our absence, so that 
we had a fine opportunity of making a good selec- 
tion. We found, upon measuring our vessel's deck, 
and putting up the stalls, that she would accommo- 
date just thirty. We accordingly, with the aid of 
Vinal, selected twenty running camels, nine milch 
camels, besides the dark brown heirie which Vinal 
had presented to Tom. The four Moorish attend- 
ants whom we had engaged for the voyage, and as 
long after as we should mutually agree upon, came 
on board with the camels. They were recommended 
by Vinal, and proved to be good men. 

We were to sail on the next day, and this last 
evening was to be devoted to the dinner at Vinal's, 
which the officers of the Undaunted had lost by their 
bet with us on the passage from Salt Island. We 
met, as agreed upon, at five in the afternoon, and sat 
down to a magnificent repast; but although each one 
seemed to do his best to promote the general socia- 
bility and cheerfulness, still it \vas rather a dull 
16* 



1S6 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

affair, for there was something constantly tugging at 
our hearts, and whispering that it was our last 
reunion at the festive board. The wine circled 
freely — Tom was as funny, Hapgood as sparkling, 
and Captain Smilie as profound and philosophical as 
ever; but it was in vain. Ties were soon to be 
sundered, which had become pleasant and dear to 
us, and we had no heart to rejoice over the breaking 
of chains, whose links were all of flowers, which 
we knew would crumble and decay, and go back to 
dust, if severed. 

It was after seven when we rose from the table, 
and as things were still dragging rather heavily, I 
proposed to the major a walk round to the old Jew's, 
telling our party that we would be back in season to 
be out before the closing of the gates. 

We found the Jew and his daughter alone in their 
splendid drawing-room. Ruth had been weeping, 
and her eyes were still heavy. She seemed, how- 
ever, pleased to see us. As for the old man, he was 
more enthusiastic than ever in his reception, heaping 
upon us all manner of entreaties to come oftener to 
his " humble dwelling." A tear actually came to 
his eye when we told him that we were to sail the 
next day, and had only come to say farewell. He 
pressed us to sit down so strongly that we were 
forced to consent, and asked his daughter to sing us 
a last song. 

It needed only the tender melody of that almost 
living instrument, and the touching pathos of that 
trembling voice, to complete the sadness of our souls. 
She sang of partings, of the estrangement of old and 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 187 

early friends, of the stiflings and ceasings of affec- 
tion, and the dread destiny of us all — to be forgot- 
ten. I could have gone down on my knees in 
my wretchedness, and prayed her to change the 
strain — to let one ray of hope stream in, though 
it should be faint and evanescent as the twinkle of a 
star — but I had no power left me. I looked tear- 
fully at the major, and the same spell was over him. 
It was strange enough for us to be sitting there, 
weeping like children at the idea of leaving a place 
which, but a short two months before, had been to 
us a blank ; a country, too, considered for centuries 
back as the natural enemy of civilization ; leaving 
this country again to return to our own, in the fur- 
therance of a project on which we had set our 
hearts — but so it was. 

It could only have been this weird influence under 
which we staggered, that prevented our hearing the 
rushing of men in the court below, and the hurrying 
of footsteps up the broad staircase. All that I 
recollect is the sudden presence in the room where 
we sat, of an armed body of Moors, above whom 
towered the hated form of the burly Ethiopian talb. 
Before we had time to move from our seats, we 
were bound hand and foot, and effectually gagged. 
The Jew and his daughter were seized and served 
in the same way. When this was done, and we 
were being carried down stairs, helpless as corpses, 
I heard the signal given for the shutting of the gates. 
The Ethiopian muttered something passionately, 
which I supposed to be an oath ; but we were 
carried out, notwithstanding. 



188 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

As we were borne along the street towards the 
gates, we passed several Jews standing at the doors 
of their houses, but they asked no questions, and 
ventured not a word of remonstrance. 

On arriving at the gates, and after the keeper had 
turned the lock, but was hesitating to open them, 
probably bargaining for a high price for his infidel- 
ity, I noticed four or five men creeping stealthily 
along on the broad top of the wall. 

" Avast, there!" sung out a voice which made 
the negro fairly shiver, for it was no other than that 
of Bill Smith; " Avast, there, I say; what foul 
play's agoin' on now?" 

" There's the big nigger," sung out another voice, 
"give him the iron, Bill." 

At the word, a glistening harpoon descended with 
tremendous force, striking deep into the Ethiopian's 
thigh, who roared out with pain like a dying bull. 

"Haul in, boys," shouted Bill, again; "haul 
cheerily — here's a black fish ! " 

At this moment a rush of people to the gates on 
the outside was heard, and a sonorous voice called 
out, fiercely, 

"Mahomed Ali is the Pacha of Egypt ; down with 
the gates, boys, and give it to the blasted scoundrels. 
Make short work of it. Recollect, brevity is the 
soul of wit ! " 

No sooner was the order given, than the gates flew 
back upon their hinges, laying some half dozen 
Moors sprawling in the dust, and ripping up the 
flesh on the side of the faithless keeper, who hap- 
pened to be underneath. 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 189 

Srnilie, Rothery, Hapgood. and Tom entered, fol- 
lowed by eight English sailors, who seized the 
muskets and cimeters from the terrified Moors, and 
laid lustily about them. Those were lucky who 
escaped without a blow or a gash. 

" It is well you are going off to-morrow," observed 
captain Smilie, while they all assisted to unbind and 
put us on our legs again, "or I should have to place 
a watch over you boys." 

We accompanied the Jew and his daughter back 
to their house, where a demijohn of Canary was 
served out to the men. Captain Smilie having 
promised the old man to call upon the bashaw, and 
see that no harm came to him in consequence of this 
night's proceedings, we moved off towards the water 
side, where we found our ladies, Compton, Purser 
Sly, and a strong guard of English sailors. Hap- 
good remained at the Jew's house for the night, to 
dress the negro's wound. 

He reported to us the next day that he was crip- 
pled for life, and in such a manner, too, as would, 
for the future, pretty effectually put a stop to his 
lustful propensities. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



OFF AGAIN. 



The next day opened finely. At eight o'clock we 
hoisted our flags, determined to go off with a brave 
show outside, at any rate. The Undaunted, in ad- 
dition to her British ensign and long pennant, 
hoisted also the American flag at the fore, and the 
Bold Runner was fairly alive with colors of all 
nations. 

After breakfast we went on shore to make our 
farewell visits. We bade good bye to the bashaw, 
thanking him sincerely for the assistance he had 
rendered us ; and he, on his part, expressed a hope 
that our voyage might turn out sufficiently profitable 
to warrant a repetition. 

Having a little time to spare, we called round 
again upon the Jew, to inquire after his own and his 
daughter's health. We found the old man pacing 
to and fro in the lower hall of his house, like a 
sentinel on duty. He informed us that his daugh- 
ter was far from well, and kept her chamber: — as 
for the negro, he had been removed to his own house. 
We accordingly had to content ourselves with send- 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 191 

ing up our kindest regards, and again bade the old 
man farewell. He held us by the hand some time, 
without speaking. At length the conflicting senti- 
ments of his heart found utterance. 

" You are going," said he, "and I shall never see 
you again. I am an old man, and shure cannot long 
live. And mine daughter — vat vill become of mine 
daughter, ven ve are all gone 1 Oh, if I had mine 
monish ready, I vould go vith you. But mine 
monish, I cannot leave mine monish." 

We made no effort to conceal the disgust which 
this last exhibition of the ruling passion excited in 
our breasts, and turned away. Infatuated old fool ! 
Is not hell worse than earthly poverty ? 

On our way to the water side, the major and I 
turned a little out of our course into the street where 
the Ethiopian lived, in order to gratify a certain ma- 
licious pleasure which we took in getting the latest 
report of his sufferings. 

As we approached the house, a female rushed 
wildly out, but on seeing us, stopped, and gave us a 
look full of fiendish defiance and hatred. Her hair 
was uncombed, and hanging in tangled masses over 
her white shoulders and bared bosom. Her eyes 
were bloodshot, her nose was slightly tinged with 
red, and her mouth had that peculiarly unpleasant 
look which I should term " hard." She was alto- 
gether the most revolting specimen of womankind 
that I ever saw. 

"So," said she, with a shriek and scowl of the 
deepest malignity, " you are the fine gentlemen who 
rescued old David's daughter from a better fate than 



192 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 



she deserved. She, indeed — to set herself up as 
being better than we ! But it's no use; it's her fate, 
as it has been of many a better one, and she 
can't get away from it. And what is there better, I 
should like to know; eh, what — what, I say?" 
Here the voice of the miserable creature ran up into 
a perfect howl, as if she were defying all time and 
the endless ages of eternity ever to breathe again 
into her soul one gush of her girlish purity and ten- 
derness. 

"And how is the Ethiopian to-day?" inquired 
the major, feigning a commiseration which I am 
sure he did not feel. 

" You do well to ask," she replied, with a more 
hateful look than before, glaring at us, indeed, like 
an angry tigress. "And you call yourselves Chris- 
tians. You gave us a fine example of good will and 
brotherly forbearance, in sending home here a man- 
gled, mutilated carcass, to be a weight and burden 
to us all, instead of the strong and lusty form that 
had been to us a pleasure. But my curse shall 
follow you, and it shall be none the lighter that I 
am of your own race and blood; it shall follow you 
wherever you go, and be my only satisfaction for- 
ever. I hate you, and all that belongs to you ; and 
if I were a man, one of us should answer for this." 

"Come," said the major, taking my arm, "we 
have no further time to listen to this rigmarole ; our 
wives are expecting us at the boat." 

At the word "wife" she started, and a shade of 
horror passed over her face, which covering as well 
as she could with her hands, she ran shrieking back 



THE CAMEL HUNT. L l Jo 

into the house, like a guilty ghost of darkness at the 
approach of light. 

Oh, Jew's daughter; from what a fate wast thou 
rescued ! Madness is a terrible thing, yet we are 
told that a drop of water on the brain will work it ; 
but a foul and false heart in woman is a far more 
terrible thing — even an everlasting madness — and 
yet, one little sentiment of vice, cherished but for a 
moment, is the germ thereof. 

In the hurry and bustle of departure from port, 
there is usually little time or disposition, on ship- 
board, for sadness or regrets. Our deck was a 
perfect mart of confusion. The camels occupied the 
principal part of it, and as they were not quite 
located as yet, made a greater show than they 
needed to have done. Our Moors, too, were de- 
cidedly in the way of the seamen, always happening 
to be squatting on the very coil of rope that was 
wanted for use. The quarter-deck was in no neater 
condition. The bashaw, as a parting token of 
affection, had sent off some sheep, goats, chickens, 
fruit and vegetables ; and the Jew had likewise con- 
tributed to our stores, by a present of several baskets 
of oranges, figs and pomegranates. All these things 
were strewed about in delectable disorder, causing 
sundry little inconveniences to our guests, such as a 
huge rent in the pantaloons of Captain Smilie, the 
result of that individual's coming suddenly in con- 
tact with the horns of a goat, and Mr. Purser Sly's 
being precipitated headlong into a basket of fresh 
eggs, the natural consequence of stumbling over a 
sheep. 

17 



194 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

At eleven o'clock a parting sentiment was pro- 
posed by Captain Smilie — " May we live till we 
die ; and when that eventful period is passed, may 
we all meet in heaven." 

"Amen," said Hapgood, with a nod towards our 
side of the deck; "and as the celestial railroad, 
which one of your countrymen started, is not now 
in successful operation, may we go up on a rain- 
bow." 

After which they all left us, except Vinal, Hap- 
good and Rothery, who had agreed to accompany us 
a little way, returning in the Bold Runner. With a 
fresh breeze off the land, we stood once more out 
towards the broad sea, casting many a lingering look 
at the white walls of Mogadore as we sailed by, 
now full of interest, and wondering within ourselves 
that we could ever have looked upon them without 
pleasurable emotions. We were again to return to 
the society of our little circle, with many new expe- 
riences and fresh bonds of sympathy. If, since 
leaving home, we had seen human nature in worse 
phases than before, we had perhaps also seen it in 
better. At all events, the picture of life had been 
presented to us in stronger colors, with more marked 
contrasts and a distincter outline than we had ever 
noticed in the tamer tableaux of our native places. 
It is but fair to suppose, however, that it was the 
novelty of our situation which produced this impres- 
sion on our minds. 

Early in the afternoon, Vinal, Rothery and Hap- 
good took a final leave of us, in order to be able to 
beat back before dark. Vinal promised to see us 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 195 

again at some future time in the States, when Frank 
should be his wife. We kept watching their little 
vessel till she was a mere white speck, contrasting 
indistinctly with the dark, hazy shore — a last visible 
relic, speaking silently but eloquently to the heart, 
of the pleasant times we had passed, and the true 
friends we had met, in the country we were leaving. 
But the camels looked not back ; yet they were 
bound to a new and untried land ; and would see 
the waving palm trees, the green oasis, and the 
sands of the desert — no more. 



CHAPTER XX, 

CHAGRES. 

Nothing of special interest occurred during our 
voyage back. We were favored with fine weather, 
and the time passed quickly away. We had some- 
thing to do in studying the tastes and habits of our 
camels, and in endeavoring to pick out of our Moors 
a few words of their language. Besides, we had 
our past adventures to talk over, as well as our 
future prospects to discuss. 

I am sorry to confess that we saw neither the sea 
serpent, nor the Flying Dutchman, nor even a soli- 
tary mermaid. We did, however, see a whale or 
two, occasionally, in calm weather, the dark fin of a 
shark, plenty of dolphins, and, after arriving on the 
South American coast, a shoal of porpoises. We 
spoke but one vessel, the Belle Creole, from Bordeaux, 
bound to Martinique, and it was hard work speaking 
her, for she mistook us at first for a pirate, and 
crowded all sail to escape. 

When the camels and the Moorish language failed 
to interest us, we studied the Moors themselves, and 
soon made them out to be quite characters in their 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 197 

way; but now that I look back upon it, I think it 
was a very insipid sort of way. Finally, when 
camels, Moors, officers, crew, every thing else, in 
fact, failed, we still had the cook to fall back upon, 
and he was a host. Often during the mild summer 
evenings, running down the trades, did we cluster 
round him on the lee side of the galley, watching 
the foam as it drifted gurgling past, or looking far 
away over the lonely waste of waters, while his 
honest voice kept sounding in our ears, as he 
steadily, sleepily, dreamily narrated his simple expe- 
riences. 

At length the cheering cry of " Land, ho ! " was 
heard. We were again in sight of the American 
continent. The captain, knowing it to be a bold 
shore, ran in pretty close, enabling us to feast our 
land-sick eyes upon a magnificently mountainous 
coast. The first land we made proved to be the 
highlands off Porto Bello. We ran down in obe- 
dience to a fresh northeaster, and were not long in 
passing Mansanilla Island in Navy Bay, where we 
saw a large steamship at anchor, and soon after 
came in sight of three more steamships, lying off the 
point of our destination — Chagres. 

The scenery along the coast was certainly grand 
and striking : — the bold headlands, pierced occa- 
sionally by fearful looking ravines, pouring their 
tribute of waters with a rushing sound into the 
embrace of the mad waves, hurrying to receive it ; 
the deep, rich green of the dense foliage which 
covered these steppes, and crowded down to the 
very water's edge, suggestive of wild beasts and 
17* 



198 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

venomous reptiles beneath its dark luxuriance; an 
occasional reef of rocks jutting out a few feet from 
the shore, lashed and beaten by the angry breakers, 
which seemed jealous of even so small an encroach- 
ment on their domain, and seethed and fretted, and 
threw up foam of livid rage. With this bold and 
lifelike cast of scenery, we found it difficult to 
reconcile the melancholy stories we had heard of the 
deadly atmosphere of Chagres. Here in this hilly 
region, washed by the Atlantic's waves and blown 
upon by her freshest winds, we thought man must 
rather take a new start in existence, and breathe in 
a new and keener life. But first impressions are 
often deceitful. 

When we got abreast of the old fort of San 
Lorenzo, where we anchored, the American side of 
the town was distinctly visible. It was nothing 
more or less than a sand bank, covered with shingle 
palaces, and seemed built nearly on a level with the 
sea. Boats were plying to and from the steamships 
outside of us in great profusion, and on shore the 
crowd was immense; so that the little neck of land 
where the houses stood seemed fairly alive with 
human beings. 

I went on shore with the captain and the major in 
the brig's boat, to see about the possibility of enter- 
ing with the vessel at once. Before we left, how- 
ever, several boats from the town, seeing that- we 
had passengers, came along-side. Cadaverous look- 
ing boatmen clambered on board, with sundry 
inducements to our people to take passage with 
them. * l Here's the Ring-tailed Roarer," said one ; 



THE CAMEL HUNT. J 99 

"beats all the small craft on the levee — chased a 
streak of lightning the other day — came pretty near 
catching it, only didn't — take you right ashore — 
two dollars a head." "Stop your nonsense," said 
another, bringing himself forward with somewhat of 
a Micawber air — " Ladies and gentlemen, you may 
consider yourselves fortunate in having an opportu- 
nity of landing at Chagres for the first time in the 

Lady Stanhope - — a boat, I may say ." " If you 

want to go on shore," said a third, elbowing his way 
a little in advance of the others, "I'm the tulip to 
take you along ; put you right on the levee, opposite 
the Irving House — first-rate hotel — where Jenny 
Lind always stops when she's at Chagres." We 
assured these facetious individuals that our passen- 
gers had no idea of leaving the vessel until she was 
inside. They had no time to ask any questions 
about the camels, which they simply looked at as 
they came on board, and again as they descended to 
their boats, for with them time was of too much 
importance to be wasted in the study of natural 
history. Besides, they had seen things far more 
astonishing in their day, and would doubtless have 
manifested the same indifference, had our cargo con- 
sisted of giraffes instead of camels, or specimens of 
that fabulous animal, known in Chagres as the 
"ring-tailed roarer." 

On rounding the point where the old fort is built, 
we found Chagres, like a fashionable modern ro- 
mance, in two parts; the native side, consisting of a 
few low bamboo huts, covered with palm leaves, 
with here and there a two-story pine framed build- 



200 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

ing, bearing unmistakeable traces of having been 
recently erected. The American side could boast of 
some fifty buildings of the latter sort, among which 
a prodigious number of hotel signs were startlingly 
conspicuous. Most of these houses were painted 
white or whitewashed, and some indulged in the 
luxury of green blinds. The levee was literally 
swarmed with boats of all varieties, from a birch 
canoe to a first class yacht. There were also two 
American brigs, several small coasting schooners, 
and some three or four small specimens of steam 
craft; but the great feature was boats, as the great 
permanent feature of society on shore is boatmen, of 
which class of people indeed Chagres is the par- 
adise. 

If any sensation of the picturesque or romantic 
had been suggested by the outside appearance of 
Chagres, it all vanished as soon as we landed. The 
green hills around, the calm, beautiful river flowing 
rapidly but noiselessly to the sea, the long sandy 
beach, the groves of the cocoa-nut we had remarked 
on approaching, the fresh afternoon sea breeze, and 
the bright sunshine over all, were as things that had 
never been. A glance told us too plainly that we 
were in the midst of filth, disease, degradation, aye, 
of vice in almost every form. As we walked up the 
beach, surrounded by people of all lands and cos- 
tumes, among which predominated specimens of the 
sallow-faced, long-limbed inhabitant of our western 
frontier, and the half naked, vagabondish looking 
native — every other man evidently on his last 
legs — I felt a disgust for the place, amounting 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 201 

almost to horror. On our way to the American 
consulate, a native building with thatched roof, we 
passed more people engaged in the delectable occu- 
pations of gambling, drinking and fighting, than I 
have ever seen similarly employed before in the 
whole course of my life. If this was one of the first 
fruits of California, we had been too hasty in our 
estimation of the boon. If this town of grog-shops 
and gambling shanties was the extension of free- 
dom's area, Heaven forbid that it should go any 
further! I had before received unpleasant impres- 
sions of men and things at first sight, but never 
any thing so staggering as this. I afterwards came 
to see the causes of all this more in detail, and my 
closer examination of the people and the place, led 
me to understand very satisfactorily certain apella- 
tions given to it by its non-admirers, such as "a 
new hell," and "the sink-hole of creation," 

It was easy to distinguish between the outward 
bound Californians, and the returning. The former 
were fresher, neater looking, had clean faces and 
considerable baggage, and were easily recognised by 
a kind of timid, questioning look, which they mostly 
wore. The latter were sallow, hard-featured, rich 
in hair and beard, generally in dirty shirts, and 
with certain unique looking patches on their outer 
garments, done in the primitive style of needle- 
craft known as " herring boning.' 7 Their luggage, 
too, had grown " small by degrees and beautifully 
less," till it was easily encompassed by a pair of 
saddle-bags or a rusty valise. Many of them had 
certain foreign articles in their attire, which marked 



202 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

them still more definitely as among the initiated, 
such as Mexican ponchos, Chinese umbrellas and 
Panama hats. But what cared these stern-visaged 
gentry for outward appearance? They had, most 
of them, a little iron-bound box, with sealed ends, 
either in their possession or as freight on one of the 
steam-ships in the bay, which would in due time tell 
its story for them, chaunting golden lyrics for the 
returning heroes. 

After making a bargain with the captain of one of 
the little steamers lying along the levee, to bring our 
vessel in, the major and I took a stroll along the sea 
beach, by way of getting a change of air, prepara- 
tory to going off. It was certainly invigorating to 
turn our backs upon the town, and let our eyes 
roam over the vast, hazy hills that towered one 
above another in the rear of Chagres ; or out upon 
the deep rolling sea. We had travelled but a few 
rods, however, before we were painfully reminded 
of our proximity to that delectable place, by coming 
suddenly upon a plantation of hillocks, beneath 
which, certain slabs of wood, in one or two cases, 
told us reposed some of the Chagres dead of the 
past twelve months. 

We were turning back, when I observed a slab 
somewhat larger than the rest, painted white, with 
an inscription thereon in black letters. It told the 
passer-by that there reposed the remains of George 

H , who died at Chagres on the 5th of March, 

1850, of inflammatory fever, aged 25. A few 
simple lines below stated that he had been the sole 
support of his mother, a widow, and a family of five 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 203 

young children. This announcement, of itself, told 
a story sufficiently interesting; but on me it had a 

startling effect. George H had been the friend 

and playmate of my boyhood. We had sat together 
in the same form at school, read from the same book, 
and (I ought to blush in confessing it) I had often 
copied hard mathematical solutions from his slate. 
He was my senior by a few years, and initiated me 
into all the mysteries of gunning, fishing, and the 
sublime science of boating. He was a finely formed, 
robust boy, and, I u^ed to think, had the handsomest, 
manliest face I had ever seen. I was comparatively 
weak and puny, and certainly awkward, but from 
the first day that I went to the master's school, he 
took me under his protection, and our friendship 
was never interrupted till, at the age of fifteen, he 
left school and went to sea. 

He was a handsome boy enough when he left 
school, with his fair, rosy cheeks, his broad, white 
forehead, and his long curling hair, but when he 
arrived home from Calcutta after an absence of 
eleven months, and came one afternoon to our play- 
ground, before school commenced, dressed in a new 
suit of blue, with a darker shade upon his face, and 
his hair cut short and curling crispily all over his 
head, how much more manly and glorious in his 
beauty did he seem. We involuntarily left our 
sports at once to crowd about him. His voice was 
deeper and richer and more musical, and as I 
pressed to his side and drank in his every word, he 
seemed to me like another sort of being altogether 
from the boys around. After hearing his stories 



204 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

about the sea and foreign lands, J thought when we 
got into school again, that the old room had grown 
narrower and darker, and that the boys looked pale, 
squeamish and sick. I couldn't study any that 
afternoon, but kept longing for the time when I too 
could be a sailor, and go to far off places, where 
oranges and cocoa-nuts were as plenty as apples, or 
sit out on the ship's bobstay of a summer afternoon, 
and watch the porpoises playing in the spray under 

the vessel's bow. And here was now George H , 

or all that was left of that glorious form that I used 
almost to worship, buried in the ground at my feet ! 

But this was not all I knew the story of his 
family, and how nobly he had toiled for them for 
many a year ; how he had even provided his dear 
mother with many luxuries, and had educated his 
young brothers and sisters in the best manner his 
native town admitted of. I wondered, half jeal- 
ously, as I turned away to overtake the major, 
whose privilege it had been to soothe his last mo- 
ments, and receive his parting message to those 
dearer to him than life. But oh, I could not bear to 
let my mind dwell on that heart-breaking moment, 
when the sad intelligence reached that little house- 
hold afar, that their darling was dead, in a foreign 
land, and they would never, never see him any 
more. 

When I had nearly reached the beach, I turned 
round to take another look at the white slab. There 
were two hairy, rough looking customers standing 
before it, reading the inscription. While I looked, 
one of them raised his arm to his forehead, (God 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 205 

bless him for that!) and with his dingy sleeve 
wiped away the gathering tear. Many a Californian 
has lingered for a moment on his outward or home- 
ward journey, in that melancholy spot, and read the 
simple story which that white slab is ever telling, 
and so had his thoughts carried back to his own 
hearth-side which he has just left, or hopes soon to 
revisit, and has turned away with sadder and better 
feelings, and a new trust in the faith of his fellow- 
men. 

" Such graves as his are pilgrim shrines, 

Shrines to no code or creed confined ; 
The Delphian vales, — the Palestines, — 

The Meccas of the mind." 

I came up with the major in front of a bamboo 
tenement, where a man was selling fruit and liquor. 
He, the major, had two oranges in his hand, and 
was strenuously endeavoring to learn the price there- 
of. The proprietor, however, was in no hurry to 
give the desired information, but looked haggardly 
from one to the other of us, without reply. " Do n't 
you understand English 1 " persisted the major. " I 
want to buy these two oranges, how much shall I 
give you for them ? " 

Instead of answering, the man, whose skin was 
about the color of the articles he dealt in, laid his 
head down upon his stand, and was soon sound 
asleep. The major dropped a quarter into his lap 
and we left him to his repose. The next morning 
he was dead. 

On leaving the residence of this interesting gentle- 
man, we entered a small framed building of one story 
18 



206 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

and a half, the lower part of which was occupied as 
a shop for fancy goods. While we were negotiating 
here for some articles of toilette, we became wit- 
nesses of a scene, which tends to show, that in point 
of a free-and-easy, happy-go-lucky, d — 1-take-it tone 
of society, Chagres is fairly entitled to bear the palm 
from all new places. 

We were waited upon by a tall, saucy-looking 
young man who stood behind the counter. As we 
were making our selections, or rather submitting to a 
" Hobson's choice," from a very limited stock of 
goods, I could not help remarking a savory smell 
which came in by the back-door, so unlike was it to 
all the other odors of Chagres. 

" What is that in your back-yard," said I to the 
young man, " which smells so refreshing?" 

" Roast duck," said he, "a beauty, that our man 
John killed this morning; fat and tender, — won't 
you stop and dine with us ? Our table will easily 
accommodate two more." 

We thanked him for the invitation, which we 
could not accept of. I noticed in the back part of 
the shop a small table set for three persons, and also 
observed hovering near it two hungry-looking spe- 
cimens of returned Californian humanity, one of 
whom, like Bucklaw, was whistling desperately 
while " wearying for his dinner." 

" Sorry for it," answered the young man, referring 
to our inability to dine with him, " as the fare at the 
hotels is decidedly of the ' ton jours pork ' order. But 

here comes G , our consul, — one of the finest 

fellows out of jail ; he '11 not refuse to make a fourth 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 207 

with us. Hulloa, G ! " continued he, as that 

gentleman entered the shop, " you must dine with 
us to-day ; we are to have roast duck." 

" Roast, duck," returned G ; " well, I do n't 

mind. It's not often that such a thing happens; but 
do you know, Fred, that I have got a duck on board 
of my steamer here by the levee — and such a duck! 

— fatting up for a grand fourth of July dinner?" 

A curious look came suddenly over the counte- 
nance of the young man. G- observed it, and 

the same, curious look stole over his own, only with 
tenfold greater intensity. 

"Fred," said he solemnly, as soon as he could 
speak, " was this a white duck ? " 

"As a snow-drift," said Fred. 

"Fat?" inquired G , in a faltering tone. 

" As a partridge," answered Fred. 

A dreadfully misgiving expression came over 
G ? s face, as he proposed a third interrogatory 

— "Tail feathers tipped with black?" 

"Why, confound it man," exclaimed Fred, trying 
hard to prevent an outburst of laughter as the truth 
flashed across him, "you must have seen the biped 
before." 

"My poor duck!" gasped the consul, staggering 
out of the apartment. 

Another individual now entered, a tall, melancholy 
looking man, who proved to be the proprietor of the 
adjoining hotel. Fred, who seemed convivially dis- 
posed, extended an invitation to dine to this gentle- 
man also, informing him that the great feature of 
the board was to be roast duck. 



208 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

"Duck," said the proprietor thoughtfully, "I was 
not aware that there were any ducks in Chagres — 
except, indeed, a beautiful white one, which I 
brought down from New York with me, a duck 
that I set as much by as if it were a human being, 
— a knowing duck — a duck that money can't buy; 
why, gentlemen, I respect and venerate that duck as 
much as ever the old Romans did geese." 

" Probably," remarked the saucy-looking young 
man, "or as the natives of Siam venerate white ele- 
phants. But I am strongly inclined to believe, 
neighbor, that this is your duck that John killed this 
morning in the back-yard." 

" My duck dead ! " said the new comer, 

catching his breath at every word. u But it cannot 
be — was this duck a fat, white one, with tail feath- 
ers tipped with black ? " 

"The same," said the young man with a look, a 
thousand times saucier than ever. 

"Great heaven ! " exclaimed the proprietor, while 
an expression of horror darkened over him that I 
have rarely seen equalled. After a few moments, 
coming to himself, he resumed in a calmer tone, 
" But it will be some satisfaction to me to learn 
something of his last moments. I trust that this 
desperado John, in killing this poor inoffensive bird, 
did not hurt him much." 

"Oh, no," said Fred, "he broke his leg first by 
flinging a stick of wood at him, then put some small 
shot into him, and as that didn't quite finish the 
business, wrung his neck afterwards, to put him out 
of pain." 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 209 

" My poor duck ! " shrieked the man as he rushed 
headlong from the shop. 

The major and I having completed our purchases 
were leaving the house, when we were stopped by 
our new acquaintance. 

"Hold on a minute," said he, " General Jackson 
is just turning out up stairs ; he has been on a lark 
for three days. He is owner of this establishment 
of which I am head clerk. His name is Jackson, 
and we give him the title of general, because he tries 
to imitate some of the manners of 'Old Hickory,' 
to whom he pretends to be a sort of second cousin. 
He was i tight' enough two hours ago, when we put 
him to bed, but I suppose that the smell of roast 
duck has brought him to. It would be a capital 
joke if he should pretend to be the owner of the 
bird, as two claimants have appeared already." 

A fat, rubicund visage, surmounting a form every 
way worthy of it, appeared on the ladder leading to 
the upper story. The proboscis, which was the 
prominent feature in this visage, seemed like that of 
the war-horse mentioned in scripture — capable of 
scenting things at a great distance, for it was very 
large, very red, and very powerful looking. 

"Ahem!" said the individual to whom these 
good things belonged, on reaching the floor of the 
lower apartment, "something nice for dinner, — eh, 
Fred?" 

" Roast duck," answered Fred. 

" Not my duck?" inquired the general. 

"I don't know about that," answered Fred, " but 
it's a fine, fat duck, white, with tail feathers tipped 
18* 



210 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

with black. John killed him this morning in the 
back-yard." 

" My duck, by the eternal ! " roared the general. 

The major and I were near bursting with laughter, 
and we did not stay to witness the denouement. 

As our men had not assembled to pull us off, when 
we reached the boat we went into a ticklish-looking 
panel-house, put up on the extreme end of the beach, 
with the sign, " American Coffee House," over the 
door. There was a fine, stout, big-whiskered fellow 
serving out coffee and brandy to the boatmen, on a 
plank supported by two barrels. 

We each took a cup at a dime a piece. The pro- 
prietor of this establishment informed us that he 
cleared about thirty dollars a day, and should do 
better, but he had some friends in the house sick, 
who occupied the best part of his lodging room. As 
the building consisted of but one room, nine feet by 
twelve, I looked around with some curiosity to see 
how his sick lodgers were disposed of. He pointed 
to the roof, and sure enough there were three pine 
boards, stretched across, directly under the eaves, 
each of which bent beneath the weight of a Chagres 
invalid. I asked him if he was not afraid of getting 
sick himself in such a place. "Well," said he, "I 
suppose I shall after a while ; but I shall make 
enough first to give me a fair start; and, then, the 
first shake, why," continued he, snapping his fin- 
gers towards the steamships outside, "I shall just 
' vamose the ranche.' " But the poor fellow never 
lived to "vamose the ranche." He was taken with 
Chagres fever, as I afterwards learned, during the 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 211 

absence of the steamships, and died after a few days' 
sickness. 

A shower coming up at this time, it was amus- 
ing enough to see the proprietors of a row of " hotels" 
on the beach, bestirring themselves to get in their 
cooking-stoves, before the rain had put out their fire, 
matches being scarce and high ; and truly pitiable to 
observe the fever and ague society withdrawing to 
their shanties, from the late glad sunshine and fresh 
breeze, with many a longing look behind ; while the 
more healthy abandoned the roulette and monte 
tables stationed outside, and laid about them for 
"drinks," with an activity that was quite awful to 
behold. 

Oh, Chagres ! thou despised of all places, — thou 
den of vagabonds — thou charnel-house, — why art 
thou thus accursed ? Is not the same sky above thee, 
dotted nightly by the same stars that look on fairer 
places? Is there not one just man in thy midst to 
save thee? Where is the stout labor that should 
ditch and drain thy reeking, filthy soil? — where the 
eye to plan and sketch thy broad thoroughfares and 
stately squares — the hand to plant the palm, the 
tamarind and the mango along thy spacious ave- 
nues ? Where the capital, so greedy of employ else- 
where, to build thy princely dwellings, thy quays, 
thy warehouses ? — where the one true heart, beating 
with love for the land of its birth or adoption, to say 
"for thy sake, Chagres." So said I to myself as we 
pulled back to the brig, and looked upon the shingle 
palaces and human stir upon the sandy point. But 
there was no echo even to reply. 



212 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

Arriving on board again, it appeared that Tom 
had made a flying visit to the shore during our ab- 
sence, and had become the proprietor of two parrots 
and a monkey. He was giving the ladies a glowing 
account of the place, assuring them that it resembled 
New York very much. 

" It has its fort at the entrance," said Tom, with a 
parrot on each arm and the monkey looking over his 
shoulder. "It has its Brooklyn, which is the native 
side, and then it resembles New York, particularly 
in the number and names of its hotels, as for in- 
stance Irving House, Astor House, United States 
Hotel, Howard Hotel ; and so on, ladies and gentle- 
men, ad infinitum" 



CHAPTER XXI. 



LANDING OF THE CAMELS. 



The next morning the little steamer "Orus" came 
off and took us into port. We laid plank from the 
deck to the levee, and walked our camels ashore 
without difficulty. There was, of course, a crowd 
on the beach, attracted by the novelty of the affair; 
but there was little enthusiasm manifested. The 
majority seemed busily engaged in discussing the 
probabilities of the importation as a paying concern. 

A tall, long, flaxen-haired genius from New 
Hampshire, dressed in a blue coat with brass but- 
tons, and yellow pantaloons, who was trading with 
a native for a straw hat, created a diversion in our 
favor. 

" Constantinople ! " said he, with a roar of laugh- 
ter, bending himself up, and holding tight to his 
knees. " Ef you ain't some ! Fellar citizens, here's 
a natyve 'ud rather hev two dimes than a quarter; 
blowed ef he'd n't. Ef he ain't a case for Barnum, 
there's no gingerbread ! " 

We watched the process of landing with no little 
anxiety, although there was no danger attending it. 



214 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

When our Moors had led the last camel to the shore, 
we breathed more freely, and in the fullness of our 
hearts we could have cheered long and loudly; but 
in the midst of such a dignified body of "fellar citi- 
zens," we had no idea of doing any thing so unbe- 
coming. They all came out in good order — the 
camels of course. They were a little swollen about 
the ancles and knee-joints, and had a certain heavi- 
ness in the eyes often noticed in animals after long 
continuance without exercise. Our Moors assured 
us that they would soon correct those symptoms, and 
that two or three days' moderate exercise along the 
beach would restore them to their wonted beauty 
and vigor. We had learned on the day previous, 
from the consul, that there was a clearing about a 
mile and a half distant from the point, near a fresh- 
water river which there emptied into the sea. He 
described it as a suitable place to encamp, being high 
and dry, with excellent water close at hand, and 
sufficiently far removed from the stench of the town. 
So we saddled our beasts, in the most approved 
style of Moorish camel-craft, and, with stately steps 
and slow, our little caravan moved grandly out of 
Chagres. 

We passed along the soft sand of the beach single 
file, the redoubtable major leading the van, with the 
air of a conqueror taking possession of a captured do- 
main ; the rest of us sprinkled along the line, among 
the pack camels, or any where, that we happened to 
fall in ; and Tom, on his favorite little brown heirie, a 
perfect menagerie of parrots, bill-birds and monkeys, 
bringing up the rear. The fresh ocean breeze, and 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 215 

the feeling of the soft moving sand under their feet, 
had an inspiriting effect upon our camels, who set 
out into a swinging pace, that soon left the unwashed 
and unterrified of Chagres far behind us. 

Here, kind reader, we must part for the present. 
One portion of the enterprise which we proposed to 
ourselves at the outset, is accomplished, at any rate. 
It is true that we have not succeeded fully in all the 
details of our plan, and what mortal ever did? 
Still, we have done much, we have taken the first 
step, we have laid the corner-stone in a new and 
heretofore untried business. The great northern 
route to California, over the plains, is still trodden 
by the lingering foot of the mule, horse or ox, and 
the majestic stride of the camel is yet to supersede 
them. The southern route through Texas and New 
Mexico, by the valley of the Gila, is as yet no more 
frequented, or comfortably passed over, for our own 
efforts in its behalf. The Great Desert still collects 
its tribute of decaying bones, and the broad central 
plateau, lying between the Gila and the Colorado of 
the west, teeming, doubtless, with undreamt of 
mineral wealth, is unexplored. Minesota, Nebraska, 
the wearisome trail of the traders from Independence 
to Santa Fe, and all our distant, far-stretching and 
unfrequented mail routes, demand in vain, so far, 
for the aid which we have perhaps somewhat pre- 
maturely promised by the camel enterprise. But 
there is no time like the present to atone for the 
short-comings of the past. All that we have pro- 
posed will be done, and much more — not by our 
little band of pioneers, but by many united in the 



216 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

same cause. The camel will yet be domesticated 
and bred in our western states and territories, as 
the ox, the mule and the horse now are, and will 
doubtless do more towards extending the outskirts of 
our civilization than all other appliances to boot. 

Here then, I repeat, this portion of my narrative 
terminates. We have seen the camels safe on our 
own side of the great pond. I would be glad, 
reader, to have you accompany us in our journey 
across the Isthmus, (for you may be sure that we 
remained not long at Chagres,) to take you by the 
button-hole, and keep you listening, if you will, to 
our adventures up to the time when the turrets of 
Panama's old churches, and the broad bosom of the 
Pacific burst upon our view — aye, to the moment 
when we entered the old walled city, and the major's 
first prophetic vision of the end was fully realized. 
It may be that the best part of our adventures is yet 
to come. But all this seems properly to belong to 
another volume. Our enterprise, from the moment 
of leaving Chagres, assumed an entirely new char- 
acter. We formed many new associates, and lived 
in the midst of a train of circumstances, and a class 
of people entirely distinct and different from any 
thing that we had previously encountered. It 
may be that, at some future period, if I can find 
the time and inclination, I will beg your attention to 
this journey, promising you, in my description of 
" Life on the Isthmus," a narrative, to say the least, 
no less interesting than the present. 

11 And now, farewell — a word that must be, and has been, 
A sound that makes us linger." 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 217 

Yet stay — let us take one last look together at 
the picture which is now risen before me, fresh and 
distinct as an affair of to-day. 

The time is sunset — " the hour of better angels." 
In the foreground is the sandy beach, with the 
weary waves that have travelled ever so far for an 
embrace of the old shore, tumbling heavily upon its 
yielding breast, and gurgling back with a deep 
drawn sigh of satisfied desire. Beyond rises in a 
gentle slope, a green lawn, as smooth and velvety as 
you would expect to find on an English nobleman's 
estate. And those two old trees, that look so much 
like the old English elm, only of more gigantic 
proportions — how they stand half way up the lawn 
like sentinels placed there by nature, centuries ago ; 
now with drooping heads, reclining towards each 
other, and intermingling their more extended limbs 
as if for mutual support ! Beneath and in the rear 
of these old trees are Arab tents, and men of dusky 
faces in strange and flowing garbs, as well as others 
in more familiar guise, with fair women among 
them, are there ; and there, too, straying with noise- 
less footfall on the velvet soil, or reclining at ease 
and snuffing in the salt-laden breeze from the sea, 
are camels grazing. The background is heavy, 
sombre and indistinct, with dark, brown, hazy 
mountains, which serve to bring out in more strik-* 
ing relief the tableaux in the centre. On the right is 
a river coming from the mountains, and hurrying to 
the sea with a musical tramp. Afar on the left is 
Chagres, half hid in its hollow, and looking almost 
inviting in the distance. But let us return to the 

19 



218 THE CAMEL HUNT. 

picture beneath the old elms, and look at it again ere 
it fades away forever. It is probably the first scene 
of the kind ever witnessed on this continent. What 
calmness and oriental a quietude there is about it! 
What a simplicity worthy of the patriarchs ! 

And of those recumbent forms, stretched comfort- 
ably upon the green sward, with the air of men who 
seem to say that 

" Something attempted — something done, 
Has earned a night's repose," 

what thick-coming fancies are filling the busy 
brain? Are their minds occupied with the past, 
returning grateful thanks to Him who has guided 
and protected them in their perilous voyage, and 
brought them safely to the end, and been pleased 
to crown their efforts with so much success? Or 
look they forward, speculating inwardly on the dim 
possibilities of an unfathomable future? Or go their 
thoughts away to their home and friends afar, whom 
for so many long months they have not seen or heard 
from ? Something of all this. And other thoughts 
are theirs at times, not sad or sorrowful, but just 
tinged with the faintest shade of melancholy, when 
there come over them recollections of those whom 
they have met since the beginning of their voyage, 
and recognized as friends — those who have kept 
them from learning the hard experience of " stran- 
gers in a strange land" — in whose presence they 
have felt it a pleasure and a privilege to be — and 
whom they may never see again ; — of the venera- 
ble Baron in his solitary isle; of brave Captain 



THE CAMEL HUNT. 219 

Smilie and the absorbing Jill; of Rothery, Compton, 
Hapgood and Purser Sly; of the kind old Bashaw, 
and glorious Dick Vinal; of Ruth, the Jew's daugh- 
ter, piling up sweet sounds and hiding herself 
beneath them ; of Frank Martinez, rioting in excess 
of beauty; and of another — once the life and light 
of that little party — now dead and buried far down 
among the coral reefs of an ocean sepulchre. 



THE END. 






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